Lionel Messi is struggling to put one foot in front of the other.
Following the death of his father Jorge Messi at the age of 68 in early August, the man widely considered the GOAT of soccer shared a raw look at his ongoing grief.
“Dad, I still can’t believe you’re gone,” he began an Aug. 12 statement, translated from Spanish. “It hasn’t sunk in,, I don’t want it to sink in. It’s so hard to imagine that I won’t see you again, that we won’t talk anymore. I know you were suffering and that this is for the best, but you left too soon. We still had so much left to enjoy together.”
Messi also detailed his experience in the 2026 World Cup, including how his father encouraged him to play, but that his health took a turn for the worse immediately before the tournament began, preventing him from attending any games.