FIFA Bars Argentina From Retiring Messi’s Iconic No. 10 Jersey

The Argentine Football Association’s (AFA) plan to permanently retire the iconic No. 10 jersey in honor of Lionel Messi has hit a regulatory wall due to strict FIFA tournament rules.

AFA President Claudio Tapia had previously expressed the federation’s desire to honor Messi by ensuring no other player wore the famous jersey once he called time on his international career.

However, FIFA guidelines for official final tournaments, such as the FIFA World Cup and Copa América mandate that squad numbers must be assigned consecutively from 1 through 26, preventing countries from leaving individual numbers vacant.

This is not the first time Argentina has encountered this restriction. Ahead of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the AFA attempted to retire the No. 10 shirt in honor of Diego Maradona, but FIFA rejected the proposal, requiring the jersey to be assigned to Ariel Ortega.

While Argentina can leave the No. 10 unassigned for unofficial friendly matches, head coach Lionel Scaloni will be required to designate a player to wear the shirt in official FIFA-sanctioned competitive fixtures. Emerging midfielder Nico Paz has been widely tipped internally as a leading candidate to inherit the historic jersey.