Piers Morgan says Messi's retirement settles GOAT debate in Ronaldo's favour

Messi retires from international football

Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international football on Monday, ending a 21-year career with Argentina that included 207 appearances and 125 goals, according to The Times of India. The 39-year-old leaves as Argentina's record appearance-maker and leading goalscorer, having captained the team to victory at the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 World Cup, and another Copa América title. He will continue playing in Major League Soccer.

The announcement came weeks after Argentina lost the 2026 World Cup final to Spain, a defeat that gave Messi a second World Cup final loss after the 2014 defeat to Germany, as reported by The Times of India. The outlet also reported that Messi's father, Jorge Messi, died at the age of 68 shortly after the final.

In an Instagram post quoted by The Times of India, Messi wrote: "I want to announce to everyone that I have decided to retire from playing with the national team." He added: "I love, I loved, and I will always love being part of the national team."

Morgan reignites the GOAT debate

Hours after Messi's announcement, British journalist Piers Morgan responded on social media, using international goal tallies to argue that Cristiano Ronaldo should be considered the greatest footballer of all time. Morgan, who has previously left Messi out of his all-time XI, according to both The Times of India and Yardbarker, wrote on X: "Breaking: Lionel Messi retires from international football, after scoring 125 goals for the Argentina national team, placing him second on the list of international goalscorers."

In a separate post, quoted by The Times of India, Morgan wrote: "Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 146 goals for the Portugal national team, the highest figure in the history of football at international level. This settles the debate over who is the best player in history."

Yardbarker quoted a similar post from Morgan: "Lionel Messi quits international football having scored 125 goals for Argentina, the second-highest number in football history. Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 146 goals for Portugal, the highest in football history. This settles the [goat emoji] debate."

Ronaldo's 146 goals for Portugal surpass Messi's 125 for Argentina by 21 goals, as noted by The Times of India. Ronaldo, who has already scored more than 900 senior career goals, is reportedly aiming for 1,000, according to the same outlet.

The counter-argument: trophies vs. goals

While Morgan's argument rests on goal counts, Yardbarker noted that a common counter-argument is that Messi's international achievements surpass Ronaldo's. Messi has won two Copa América titles and a World Cup with Argentina, while Ronaldo has won one European Championship and one Nations League with Portugal. The Times of India added that Morgan has previously named four players he believes were better than Messi, further underscoring his long-standing position in the debate.