Argentina football icon Lionel Messi bid farewell Sunday to his father, the global star’s emotional anchor and agent since childhood who passed away following a battle with cancer aged 68.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner touched down on a private flight from Miami late on Saturday with his wife Antonela Roccuzzo and their children and has remained surrounded by his close family since.

A private ceremony with a few teammates from the Argentine national squad is scheduled to take place at a cemetery in the town of Perez, adjacent to Rosario, later Sunday.

The gates of the town’s El Prado cemetery displayed handwritten messages from fans—”Stay strong, Leo, we love you” and “Stay strong, Messi family”—alongside a large floral wreath.

Messi’s teammates rallied around their captain following the announcement that Jorge Messi had passed away late Friday at a clinic in Rosario.

“It will surely do him good for us to be there,” Boca Juniors midfielder Leandro Paredes told journalists after his team’s match on Saturday.

“I need to speak with a few of my teammates to see if we go now or sometime tomorrow.”

According to some media outlets, midfielder Rodrigo de Paul — a close friend of Messi and his Inter Miami teammate — would travel to Argentina.

After scoring a goal in a 2-1 defeat to Monterrey in Miami on Saturday, De Paul paid tribute to his friend by taking off his shirt to reveal Messi’s number 10 jersey.

The cause of death was not disclosed, but local media reported that Jorge Messi had been suffering from cancer.

His unusual absence from the World Cup in June had already attracted attention.

Messi’s family asked the media for “humanity” during the tournament amid persistent rumours over Jorge’s health.

After bursting into tears after scoring against Algeria, 39-year-old Messi had admitted to dealing with “a situation outside of sports”.

“I went through a few difficult, complicated days,” he later acknowledged, “but I am grateful to the entire delegation and my teammates, because they stood by me, as always.”

Immediately after the World Cup final defeat against Spain, Messi returned to spend a few days with his family in Rosario.

A guiding figure throughout his son’s career, Jorge Messi was his first coach who left everything behind to accompany his son to Spain.

A metalworker in Rosario, 340 km north of Buenos Aires, Jorge managed youth teams at the small local club Grandoli.

He was the one who introduced Argentina’s future captain to the game aged four on vacant lots where local kids played.

His life changed course in 2000 when Barcelona invited the young prodigy, then aged 13, to Catalonia to continue treatment for a growth hormone deficiency while playing for the club’s youth teams.

Jorge left behind his job in Argentina, his wife, and his three other children to settle in Spain with Lionel.

“When we arrived in Barcelona, I used to lock myself in my room to cry alone, and my father did the same — either without me seeing him or thinking I didn’t see him. We pretended we were both fine, but we were struggling,” Messi later said.

His father was later the agent who negotiated astronomical contracts on his behalf, from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami.

Messages of sympathy have poured in since Saturday from the football world, including from the clubs Messi played for and the Spanish Football Federation.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) ordered a minute of silence before matches and that black armbands be worn at games across all age groups for the week.

Nigeria’s Super Falcons have been subjected to racist abuse on social media ahead of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, with several players targeted by accounts posting monkey emojis, banana emojis and primate images following recent controversies involving the team.

The latest wave of abuse comes as the nine-time African champions prepare to begin their title defence at the tournament after arriving in Morocco for the competition.

Super Falcons intensified preparations in Casablanca before relocating to Rabat ahead of their Group C opener against Malawi on July 28.

The online attacks followed allegations by Super Falcons forward Esther Okoronkwo that cash was stolen from players’ rooms at the Marriott Hotel in Casablanca, where the team initially camped.

Okoronkwo had claimed via Snapchat that she lost about $700, while teammates Rasheedat Ajibade, Asisat Oshoala, Halimatu Ayinde and Joy Omewa also allegedly lost cash before the team moved to Rabat.

Following the allegations, numerous social media accounts, believed to belong to Moroccan users, flooded Okoronkwo’s Instagram page with abusive comments.

Many of the comments contained monkey emojis, gorilla images and other primate references widely recognised as racist tropes used to dehumanise Black people.

Following the players’ public complaints, Nigerian journalist and former Super Eagles media officer, Colin Udoh, disclosed that the case had made significant progress.

“I have been informed that a suspect has been arrested in connection with the theft at the Super Falcons’ Marriott Hotel in Casablanca and has confessed. Full restitution will be made to the players while the law takes its course,” Udoh posted on Sunday.

The racist abuse was not limited to Okoronkwo, with reports indicating that other Super Falcons players also became targets of similar comments across social media platforms.

The latest incident mirrors an earlier case involving Super Falcons forward Rinsola Babajide, who was racially abused after commenting on a separate Confederation of African Football controversy involving Morocco.

Recall that Babajide had criticised CAF’s decision to strip Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title and award it to Morocco through an administrative forfeiture.

Reacting to the development, the Nigerian forward questioned the decision on social media before sharing an image celebrating Senegal’s triumph.

After her post, an individual sent multiple monkey and banana emojis to her Instagram direct messages in what she described as racist abuse.

Babajide later shared screenshots of the messages on X, exposing the incident.

Monkey emojis, banana emojis and primate imagery have repeatedly been identified by anti-racism organisations as coded forms of racial abuse directed at Black athletes across football and other sports.

The Super Falcons are in Morocco seeking a record-extending continental title after completing a dramatic comeback to defeat hosts Morocco 3-2 in the previous Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final, securing their 10th African crown.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi has broken his silence after his side’s heartbreaking defeat to Spain in the 2026 FIFA World Cup final in the United States.

The Inter Miami FC forward admitted that the loss would be difficult to overcome while expressing pride in his team’s achievements.

Messi, who did not speak to reporters after Sunday’s final in New York, shared his first reaction online on Monday following Argentina’s 1-0 extra-time defeat.

Second World Cup title courtesy of Ferran Torres’ extra-time winner in a match where Argentina struggled to create clear-cut chances, with their first shot on target arriving in the 117th minute.

Reacting to the defeat on his Instagram page on Monday, Messi described the pain of losing the final as immense but said he would cherish the journey that took Argentina to a second successive World Cup final.

“The pain is so great, and it’s going to be hard for me to close this wound. But I’ll keep all the good stuff too… With the matches we turned leaving everything and that will remain forever in the memory, with

the support of an entire country that together with the work and effort of this group led us to be, once again, among the best in the world,” Messi wrote.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner praised his teammates for reaching back-to-back World Cup finals, despite falling short of retaining the title they won in Qatar four years ago.

“Today it’s hard to evaluate what we did, but this group reached two consecutive World Cup finals.”

Messi also thanked Argentinians for their unwavering support throughout the tournament.

“Thank you very much from the heart for every greeting and for every message. Once again we managed to unite as a country and be all together, sharing the immense pride of being Argentinian.”

The 39-year-old concluded his message by congratulating Spain on their triumph.

“I also want to congratulate Spain on the championship,” he said.

Argentina entered the tournament as defending champions after lifting the trophy in Qatar in 2022. Although they fell short in their bid to retain the title, Lionel Scaloni’s side became the first team since Brazil in 1998 to reach consecutive men’s World Cup finals.