Argentina Prepares for Life After Messi

Lionel Messi is edging towards the final curtain of his international career, and Argentina can already feel the chill of what comes next.

At 39, the captain will walk away as the country’s undisputed standard-bearer: 207 caps, 125 goals, a World Cup finally lifted in 2022, and an era defined almost entirely by his left foot. Replacing that isn’t a challenge. It’s an impossibility. The real question is how Argentina live without him.

Alexis Mac Allister isn’t pretending otherwise.

Speaking to ESPN, the midfielder laid bare the scale of the void Messi will leave. The tone was reverent, but also resigned to reality. The dressing room knows this is the end of something unique.

“The words for Messi are always the same: gratitude, and the realisation that there will never be another like him,” Mac Allister said. The sentence carried the weight of a generation that grew up under Messi’s shadow, then won it all with him. “We’ve enjoyed our time with him immensely. We’re also grateful to him for everything he’s helped us win. It’s sure to be a very emotional occasion.”

That emotion will soon give way to cold tactical questions. Argentina have built their identity around a player who could tilt any game, any tournament, almost on his own. Take that out, and the entire structure shifts.

Mac Allister knows the transition won’t be cosmetic.

“It will be a different process with new players coming in,” he explained. “We need to start realising that the best player in the world, the one who made all the difference, won’t be there anymore, and that we’ll have to grow stronger as a team.”

No more safety net. No more assumption that, when the game tightens, Messi will find the angle, the pass, the finish. The responsibility spreads now, across a group that has already proved its resilience but has never had to face life after the No.10.

For now, Messi still belongs to the present, not just the past. The Ballon d’Or conversation refuses to leave him alone, and Mac Allister did not hesitate when asked where his vote would go.

“As Argentines we’d love for Messi to win it. He had an incredible World Cup and I don’t see why he shouldn’t be awarded it,” he said. The argument is simple: the biggest stage, the biggest performances, the biggest prize. “We all know that Leo has always prioritised the team over individual achievements, so it wouldn’t be a big deal for him.”

That, in many ways, is the paradox. Messi’s legacy is framed in individual numbers and awards, yet those closest to him insist his true impact lies in what he gave to the collective. Argentina’s next era will be built on that lesson, even as it moves beyond the man himself.

While the national team contemplates a future without its icon, Mac Allister is juggling uncertainty of his own.

His situation at Liverpool has become a quiet subplot. The midfielder has already admitted disappointment that the club did not move to extend his deal, especially after fellow midfielders Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai secured new contracts. Those signatures sent a message. His absence from that list sent another.

Mac Allister had chances to leave Anfield in the summer and chose to stay. Commitment, yes, but not blind faith. The horizon remains open.

“There’s no firm decision yet. I still have two years left on my contract,” he said. “As I said, I’m going to give it my all. A lot can happen in that time; there are plenty of options.”

Two years is both a long time and no time at all in modern football. One strong season can transform a career path; one misstep can close doors. For a player entering his prime, every month matters.

Yet there was no trace of bitterness when he spoke about Liverpool, only a clear sense of where he stands and what the club represents.

“Hopefully it’ll be for more years, but if it’s just two, I’ll have to enjoy them with my family, because I have no doubt that I’m at one of the best clubs in the world.”

Argentina are bracing for life after Messi. Mac Allister is quietly weighing life after Liverpool. Both stories share the same thread: an era that can’t last forever, and the courage to decide what comes next.