Argentine soccer to stop at the 10-minute mark to honor Messi after his national team retirement

Ten minutes on the clock, a whistle that cuts through the action, and an entire country applauding at once. That's how simple, and how massive, the tribute awaiting Lionel Messi will be in the next round of Argentine soccer.

The Argentine Football Association confirmed Wednesday night that referees will pause play in the 10th minute of every match in the upcoming round of the Torneo Clausura, as well as across the rest of the country's men's and women's leagues, to dedicate a minute of applause to Messi following his retirement from the national team.

The gesture is no accident. The number 10 is, fittingly, the shirt number Messi wore throughout his entire career with the Albiceleste. It's a detail designed to make sure the tribute plays out on every field in the country, from the top division down to the lower leagues.

It all started Monday, when Messi announced he would not play for the national team again after 21 years wearing those colors. The numbers speak for themselves: in that span he made 207 appearances and scored 125 goals, both national team records.

You don't need to run through the entire list of achievements to understand what he means to the country. It's enough to remember December 2022, when he lifted the World Cup in Qatar after having reached two other World Cup finals in the Argentina shirt. That title, the one piece missing from his resume, only deepened a bond with the country that was already immense long before he won it.

What's remarkable is that Messi never played professionally in Argentina. He left for Barcelona at age 13, and that's where he built a career many consider unrepeatable. Even so, the distance never diminished how close he felt to people back home. In his country, he's idolized like few others, maybe like no one else.

Now, with his national team career behind him, Messi remains active at the club level with Inter Miami in MLS. The national team has lost its longtime captain, but Argentine soccer, from one end of the country to the other, is going to stop for a minute to say thank you.