With goals from González, Di Maria and Messi, Argentina won 3-0 at home to Venezuela. In an interview, Messi hinted that he would withdraw from the national team after the World Cup in Qatar.
Argentine media revealed that this campaign may become the last game of Messi's national team career in China. Asked about it after the game, Messi said, "I don't know, I really don't know. I'm wondering what's going to happen next, it's close, there's the match against Ecuador, then the warm-ups in June, September. ”
"After the World Cup, I'm going to have to think about a lot of things, maybe it's a good thing, maybe it's a bad thing. Let's hope it happens in the best possible way. However, after the World Cup, there will definitely be a lot of changes. ”
At the Candy Box Stadium, Messi scored 3 goals. Messi said, "For a long time, I've been happy playing here, and it was the same before I won the Copa America. They showed me how much they loved me and I appreciated it. When you go with the flow, it's easier on and off the pitch. ”
After losing to Chile in the 2016 Copa America final, Messi once announced his retirement from the national team. But then he changed his mind, returned to the national team, and led the team to win the Copa America in 2021, breaking the curse of not being able to win the title for 28 years.