Having made his senior international debut in 2005 against Hungary, Lionel Messi received a red card less than a minute after coming on. As far as first impressions go, that was probably the worst way for a player to announce themselves.
Fast forward 21 years, however, and Messi has created a legacy on the international stage that perhaps no one in world football can hold a candle to.
He officially announced his retirement from international football via social media on August 31, 2026, ending his iconic era with the Albiceleste with a FIFA World Cup title, two Copa Americas, a U-20 FIFA World Cup and an Olympic Gold medal to his name.
Now that Messi is no longer going to be a part of the team, reports claim young playmaker Nico Paz may be next in line to don the iconic #10 jersey.
🚨 BREAKING: Nico Paz is emerging as a leading candidate to become Argentina’s new No. 10 after Lionel Messi.@FedeBueno73 @ESPNArgentina 💣💣 👕 pic.twitter.com/RCASL810lY
— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) September 1, 2026
These reports have been met with plenty of confusion, as most fans were of the opinion that the Argentine Football Association should just retire the jersey, as a sign of respect to Messi’s extraordinary service.
Though such claims are definitely understandable, the fact of the matter is that FIFA’s squad registration rules strictly prohibit something like this from ever happening.
In official FIFA tournaments such as the World Cup and Copa América, squad numbers have to be assigned consecutively.
Typically, each nation selects 26 players for a major tournament, meaning every player on the squad must be assigned a jersey between 1–26. If Argentina were to hypothetically retire the #10 jersey, they would have to register players as 1–9 and 11–26 while leaving No. 10 permanently vacant, and this violates said rule.
The only leeway available in this rule is that the team can decide to leave Messi’s iconic jersey number vacant in friendly matches, as the squad registration rules don’t apply in the same way in one-off games.
When it comes time to head to the next major tournament, however, which will be the 2028 Copa America for Argentina, there is a good chance the number will end up with Nico Paz.
Incidentally, Argentina also tried this for another one of their iconic number 10s, Diego Maradona, before Lionel Messi had even made his senior debut. They attempted to leave the number vacant at the 2002 World Cup, but FIFA rejected their pleas, and the jersey was ultimately assigned to Ariel Ortega.
Funnily enough, had this actually been allowed, fans might have never got the chance to see Lionel Messi make memorable moments of magic sporting the iconic #10 on his back.
