The death of Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s father, once again cast a new light on some of the moments the Argentine captain highlighted during the World Cup. Among them, a distinctive celebration he shared after the victory against Algeria, which, amid the recent family sorrow, took on an even deeper meaning.
Jorge died at 68 in Rosario after undergoing a delicate health condition. The news was confirmed on August 8, and this Wednesday Messi shared an emotional letter to bid farewell to his father.
In that context, one of the moments from the most recent World Cup regained prominence. On June 16, that team led by Lionel Scaloni won 3-0 and Messi stood out as the star of the match by scoring all three goals.
Yet beyond the sporting performance, that day was filled with a strong emotional charge for the Argentine captain. Before the World Cup began, Jorge Messi had undergone a marked deterioration in his health, a situation Lionel kept within the family and later explained without much detail.
The distinctive gesture of Lionel Messi after his goal against Algeria
After his goals, Messi looked toward one of the cameras that were focused on him and performed a very particular celebration. The forward clenched his fists, waved them in a sign of triumph, and then uttered a phrase that was captured by the cameras: “I love you.”
The moment drew particular attention because Messi appeared visibly moved during that match. In fact, after the game he explained that the tears and his emotional state were not solely about football, but about the hard days he was going through personally.
Me acordé de este festejo y me deprimí más pic.twitter.com/dgLRXBeiTi
— Bad Luka 🇦🇷 (@Lukarg77) August 12, 2026
With Jorge’s passing and Lionel’s farewell letter, that gesture gained a different dimension. Although Messi did not publicly explain at that time that the “I love you” was specifically directed at his father, multiple reports interpreted it that way, given the footballer’s family context.
The conversation Lionel Messi could not have with his father
In the letter Lionel Messi published after Jorge’s death, one of the most painful passages of his farewell appears. There he recalled that his father hoped to see him compete in the World Cup and that they shared the hope that he could accompany him in some match.
“When I arrived, you thought we had lost the final on penalties. We couldn’t talk about anything that happened. You couldn’t enjoy anything,” the Argentine captain wrote when remembering the moment he returned from the World Cup.
Messi also explained that he decided to share this episode publicly because it was one of the few things that remained unresolved between them: “I tell you this because it was the only thing we couldn’t talk about, because everything else you already know. We spoke every day and saw each other whenever possible due to my commitments.”
The phrase helps to measure the bond they maintained. Jorge was a central figure in Lionel’s career from the outset and, in addition to supporting him as he grew as a footballer, he became his representative and one of his main pillars of support.
Now, after his passing, that “I love you” Messi uttered to a camera during his World Cup 2026 debut reemerges as one of the most emotional gestures of a World Cup that, for the footballer, was marked from the outset by his concern and love for his father.
