Somewhere in a parallel universe, Lionel Messi is preparing to wear the red of Spain—rather than the blue and white of Argentina—in the 2026 World Cup final.
That is because Messi had the opportunity to play for the country where he grew up and became a man, over the country of his birth. Once upon a time, Spain hoped it would be his pick.
Messi was born and spent his early childhood in Rosario, Argentina, but moved to Barcelona at the age of 13 to begin his career with the club. Initially the whole family relocated to Spain, but Messi’s mother, brothers and sister eventually returned home, leaving just him and his father in an apartment near to Camp Nou. Despite homesickness and undergoing growth hormone therapy, he stuck it out, soon becoming part of La Masia’s famed ‘Baby Dream Team.’
The rest as far as his storied club career is concerned is history. However, at that stage, there was no certainty regarding his international career because Spain was on the case and Argentina seemingly wasn’t—perhaps out of sight, out of mind after leaving home so young.
Messi eventually obtained a Spanish passport in September 2005 and became a dual citizen, largely because it helped Barcelona bypass rules limiting La Liga clubs to no more than three non-EU players in a given matchday squad. He had already officially debuted—and was sent off—for Argentina a month prior. But Spain sensed years earlier there might be an opportunity to lure him to La Roja.
In 2025, former senior and U-20 Argentina manager José Pékerman claimed in an interview with Diario Olé that the “paperwork was prepared for him to play the U-20 World Cup for Spain.
“[Messi] was the player of the future. I couldn’t be wrong; he was the new emergence of Argentine football, a blessing. We had to hurry. I told him I didn’t want him to play [for Argentina] unless necessary, just that he play in a friendly, sign the match sheet and send it to FIFA. Spain, no more.”
It was actually in early 2004 that FIFA changed eligibility rules allowing players to switch allegiance between junior and senior levels. By mid-2004, Messi debuted for Argentina’s U-20 team and played for his country in the 2005 U-20 World Cup, scoring six goals as La Albiceleste lifted the trophy.
His senior Argentina debut came only weeks later. As per FIFA rules at the time, he was locked in.
Argentina’s Soccer Federation Reached Messi Through His Grandmother
Long-serving Argentina soccer official Omar Souto, someone to whom Messi paid tribute on Instagram when he passed away last year, once told a version of the story that began at an earlier U-20 World Cup in 2003—when Messi was 16, in which Spain actually tipped off Argentina about him.
“In the U-20 World Cup, we were always with Spain in the hotels, and a person from their technical staff approached us and said, ‘How come you didn’t bring the kid from Barcelona? He is much better than everyone here,’” Souto revealed to TyC Sports in 2021.
“When we returned to Buenos Aires, [AFA executive Hugo] Tocalli told me we had to get that player. I thought his name was Leonardo because everyone called him Leo. I went to a call center in Monte Grande and asked for a directory of the city of Rosario where all the Messis were listed.
“I called the grandmother who gave me the uncle’s phone number, when I called him, he gave me the father’s number, who when I called said, ‘Finally, you are going to call him up. My son wants to play for the Argentine national team.’”
Messi Always Wanted Argentina
Even though he spent his adolescence in Spain and was already well on track to become a naturalized Spaniard, Messi dreamed of representing Argentina on the international stage.
In the early years of Messi’s Argentina career, a Spain team featuring many of his collagues and close friends from Barcelona won back-to-back European Championships either side of the 2010 World Cup. Conversely, with Argentina, Messi had to wait until 2021 for his first senior trophy and even briefly retired from the national team in 2016 out of frustration at repeatedly losing finals.
On Pasión por el Fútbol, in 2018, he admitted: “I was talking to a friend and he told me, ‘Imagine if you had stayed with Spain, you’d already be a world champion.’ But it wouldn’t have been the same. Obviously, it never crossed my mind. Being champion with Argentina would be something unique.”
Messi eventually steered Argentina to World Cup glory in 2022, the year after ending the nation’s 28-year trophy drought with an overdue Copa América title. Now, he stands on the brink of winning a second World Cup—in the fourth such final of his career—in blue and white.
