Argentina searches for Messi's successor to wear the number 10

There is a number sitting empty in the Albiceleste locker room, and nobody quite knows how to fill it. Lionel Messi said goodbye to the Argentina national team after more than two decades defining an era that ended in the best way possible: with the third star, won on December 18, 2022 in Qatar. Now that the captain is gone, a question is making the rounds across Argentine soccer: who takes the number 10?

It is not just any number. Before Messi, it belonged to names like Mario Alberto Kempes and Diego Armando Maradona, so the historical weight was already there. Leo first wore it in 2009 and, barring injury or one of his breaks from the national team, he basically never took it off again. In those rare absences over the last decade, only three players dared to wear it: Angel Correa, Paulo Dybala and Franco Mastantuono.

None of the three were at the last World Cup, and aside from Mastantuono, who just turned 19, it is hard to picture Correa or Dybala as central figures in the cycle that is beginning. So the search has to look elsewhere.

The names in the conversation

The candidate generating the most excitement, both for his potential and his style of play, is Nico Paz, who already wears the 10 at Como. He has had few minutes in the Argentina shirt so far, but it only takes watching him play to understand why many see him as a fixture of the national team in the years ahead.

Another strong name is Thiago Almada, a World Cup champion and a regular in Lionel Scaloni's recent squads. In fact, River Plate's new signing was set to debut in the number in September 2025 against Ecuador, but a muscle issue kept him out and Mastantuono ended up wearing it instead, which is exactly why he also remains part of the conversation, even if his current form has been uneven.

Among the regulars in Scaloni's squad there are other interesting profiles too: Alexis Mac Allister wears the 10 at Liverpool and Lautaro Martinez does the same at Inter. Based on style of play, some also throw Enzo Fernandez into the discussion, though he is fairly attached to the number 24, and Julian Alvarez, who already carries another heavy number in the 9.

There is an idea that has circulated for a while, though it is not viable under the rules: retiring the number altogether. AFA president Claudio Tapia himself had raised the possibility some years ago, with Messi's eventual retirement in mind. It would not be the first attempt: 25 years ago, after Maradona's departure, AFA's Executive Committee voted unanimously to retire the number 10, but FIFA did not allow it for official competitions, since squad numbering for official rosters runs from 1 to 23 (now expanded to 26).

So the number 10 will keep getting passed around. The question now is who is willing to make it their own without the comparison to Messi weighing too heavily.