'Don't know how to carry on': Messi hints at retirement in emotional tribute to late father

Lionel Messi has cast serious doubt over his future in football following the death of his father Jorge, who passed away on 8 August at the age of 68 after a long illness.

In an emotional open letter shared on Instagram, the 39-year-old admitted he no longer knows whether he wants to continue playing. "I only played football and now I have serious doubts about whether I will keep doing it for much longer," he wrote.

The tribute has stunned the football world, with Messi adding: "I don't know what I am going to do without you. I don't know how to carry on."

Jorge had pushed his son to participate in the recent World Cup in the United States, even as his condition deteriorated sharply in the days before the tournament began. Messi revealed it was the first major tournament his father was unable to attend in person.

"You asked me so much to play in this World Cup. Every time a match ended, I waited for your message. That is when I realised the situation was really bad," Messi wrote.

He pushed himself through the tournament with the sole aim of reaching the final so his father could travel to watch. Argentina made it, but Jorge could not be there. Spain won 1-0 to deny Messi a second World Cup triumph. "I wanted to win it to bring it to you. I couldn't. My legs would not give any more," he admitted.

Messi also recalled the napkin on which Jorge famously secured the initial agreement with Barcelona when his son was just a teenager, convincing the club to fund expensive growth hormone treatment. Jorge went on to manage every major contract of his son's career, from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami, as well as his image rights and business interests.

"You were dad, friend and representative," Messi wrote. "You were always the person you needed to be in every moment and you never got anything wrong."

Messi had returned to Inter Miami following Argentina's World Cup final defeat but flew home to Argentina for a private funeral in Perez, near Rosario, missing his club's defeat to Monterrey. His team-mates wore black armbands in tribute.

Argentina's football federation president Claudio Tapia issued a lengthy statement honouring Jorge, and ordered a minute's silence and black armbands across all categories of Argentine football.