Marcos Llorente retires from Spain's national team after winning the World Cup

Some retirements are announced through tears, others arrive with the World Cup trophy still warm in your hands. Marcos Llorente's falls into the second category. The Atletico Madrid player, freshly crowned world champion, decided this Thursday to close his chapter with the Spanish national team right after reaching the highest possible peak wearing the Roja jersey.

He shared the news himself, no press conferences or official statements, through an Instagram post accompanied by a photo of him lifting the trophy with his champion's medal still hanging around his neck. And that's where the first surprise comes in: the decision, he explained, wasn't born out of the rush of winning the final or any calculation made after the title. He had already made up his mind before that.

Llorente, 31, played a total of 27 matches for Spain's national team, without scoring any goals, and lived through two very different World Cups: Qatar 2022, where the national team fell in the round of 16, and the United States, Mexico and Canada 2026 edition, where Spain was crowned champion after defeating Argentina in the final on July 19. His last match with the Roja came precisely at that tournament, in the closing stretch of the semifinal against France played on July 14.

His debut had come much earlier, on November 11, 2020, with Luis Enrique in charge at the time, now at Paris Saint-Germain. Six years later, with Luis de la Fuente as head coach, the fullback closed the circle in the best way possible: as a world champion.

Regardless of whether I had gone to the World Cup or not, or whether we had won or not, I had already made this decision.Marcos Llorente

In his message, Llorente was especially careful to explain the reasoning behind a decision that, he admits, many won't fully understand. He acknowledged that he is still young and that, keeping up his current level, he probably had years left ahead of him wearing the national team jersey. But he insisted that this is something "personal, very carefully thought through and, above all, deeply felt."

I'll hold on to everything I experienced, but above all, to these last 52 days. With a wonderful group that fought until the end to put Spain at the top. And that's exactly what it did.Marcos Llorente

The player also dedicated a few lines of gratitude to everyone who accompanied him along the way, and highlighted the pride of having represented his country and having been part of a story that ended with a third star for Spain.

Atletico Madrid, his club through and through, wasted no time reacting publicly to the announcement. "Proud of your commitment and the way you represented and defended the jersey. You're part of the history of Spanish soccer, and it makes us immensely happy to enjoy every day with you," the club wrote, making clear that even if his run with the national team is over, his story with Atletico continues.