Lionel Messi broke the silence after Argentina's 2026 World Cup final defeat against Spain with an emotional message on social media: "The pain is immense." Lionel Messi has once again suffered a heartbreaking defeat in a World Cup final, this time falling to Spain in the 2026 championship match in North America. The day after the crushing loss, the Argentina captain broke his silence with an emotional message on social media, admitting that “the pain is immense.“ Taking to his Instagram account, Messi delivered his first public words following the defeat at MetLife Stadium: “The pain is immense and this wound will take time to heal. But I also hold onto all the good things… the matches where we fought back, giving everything, which will remain forever in our memory, and the support of an entire country that, together with the work and effort of this group, brought us back once again to being among the best in the world. Today it is hard to appreciate what we accomplished, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals.“ The legendary playmaker also expressed profound gratitude to the supporters who backed the squad throughout their tournament run. “Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for every greeting and every message. Once again, we managed to unite as a country and stand all together, sharing the immense pride of being Argentine,” he added. In a gracious display of sportsmanship, Messi closed his statement by acknowledging the new world champions and their historic achievement: “I also want to congratulate Spain on the championship.“ Lionel Messi’s Instagram post. Lionel Messi will not travel to Argentina for homecoming Following the 1-0 extra-time defeat against Spain, the Argentine national team delegation boarded flight AR 1971 to return home, with an expected arrival at Ezeiza International Airport around 6:30 PM local time. While fans are preparing a warm reception at home to recognize the squad’s impressive tournament run, Messi will be the most notable absence from the celebrations. Instead of boarding the charter flight out of New York with the rest of the team, Messi opted to travel directly to Miami to rest and recharge following his demanding World Cup campaign. In total, six members of Argentina’s 26-man World Cup roster chose not to return to Buenos Aires with the main group. Joining Messi in skipping the homecoming trip are goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, defender Cristian Romero, midfielders Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo De Paul, and forward Julian Alvarez.