November 13, 2026
Within hours, the first international football window will be launched in the era after the retirement of Argentine Lionel Messi and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo from international football. Argentina will begin its new campaign by hosting Uruguay at the “La Bombonera” stadium in Buenos Aires at one o’clock in the morning, while Portugal will host its Danish counterpart on Saturday evening in the city of Braga in the European Nations League competitions. Despite the different circumstances of the two teams, they face the same challenge of building a new football identity after two decades during which the two teams were accustomed to revolving in the orbit of one star.
Messi (39 years old) announced his international retirement last August, explaining that he made his decision two days after losing the World Cup final to Spain in July, and in the period following the death of his father. He played his farewell match against Benin on October 6, which ended with Argentina’s victory (3-0), bringing down the curtain on a busy international career that saw him score 126 goals in 208 matches. On the other hand, Ronaldo (41 years old) announced his retirement on November 5, following a dispute with new coach Jorge Jesus, who kept him on the bench and left the national team camp in October, ending his career on the throne of the national teams’ all-time top scorer with 146 goals in 234 matches.
Argentina faces the most complex challenge; Because Messi was not just a scorer, but was the focus of the entire offensive system. For this stage, coach Lionel Scaloni summoned 28 players to face Uruguay and Costa Rica, including new names such as Chelsea defender Aaron Anselmino. In light of the significant absences that include Lautaro Martinez and Cristian Romero due to injury, and the need for goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to prove his readiness after recovering from a broken jaw, Julian Alvarez will lead the attacking line to compensate for the absence of Lautaro (the top scorer in the Scaloni era after Messi), while attention is focused on Nico Paz to be the most prominent candidate to succeed Messi in the playmaking industry.
As for the Portuguese national team, it has already begun the process of adapting to the post-Ronaldo era. He achieved two impressive victories, of which “The Don” was absent. He defeated Norway (2-1) and Denmark (4-2) in his home in Copenhagen, presenting a distinguished offensive performance. The team leads its group in the Nations League with a full score, needing a single draw point against Denmark to officially take the lead. In a purposeful move to distribute responsibilities, coach Jorge Jesus decided to give the leadership armband to five players distinguished by experience and number of international matches, namely: Bernardo Silva, Ruben Diash, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Neves, and Bruno Fernandez, in addition to calling up seven new players. The team will have greater flexibility in building its attacks based on the speed of Rafael Leao, Goncalo Ramos, and Pedro Neto, and their high capabilities in pressure and movement.
These data highlight a clear difference between the two experiments. Portugal seems to have been freed from the burden of a star whose level was declining, while Argentina faces a huge void with the departure of a player who remained influential and decisive until his last match. The two teams are currently resorting to the option of collective leadership, whether by distributing the captaincy in Portugal, or relying on a group of experienced midfielders in Argentina to compensate for the absence.
The confrontations tonight and tomorrow will provide initial indications of the shape of the two teams in their new era, but the real test and the most accurate measure will only appear in the upcoming major tournaments, when the two teams find themselves facing decisive matches devoid of a player capable of deciding the result with a regular individual touch over the past two decades.
