'The last of Messi': Argentines mourn loss and end of an era

Nervous excitement and rowdy cheers turned into anguished groans, nailbiting tension and tears, as Argentines’ hope of yet another epic comeback led by Lionel Messi in the World Cup fizzled out against Spain.

At the Cafe Relax bar in the historic center of Buenos Aires, fans with tears in their eyes after the final whistle blew on the 1-0 defeat said that what saddened them most was that it was almost certainly 39-year-old Messi’s last shot at a World Cup.

“I feel empty. Empty because of Messi, because I won’t see him in a World Cup again. This is the last one,” said Camilo Cichero, a 22-year-old architecture student who was comforting his crying friend.

“It’s not how we expected it to go. At least it gives me peace of mind knowing he’s already won everything there was to win.”

Composing himself, his friend Juan Saenz, 22, a law student said: “This was the last of Messi …it was the very end, and it finished this way.”

“I was born while Messi was playing, and this was the end of that era.”

But it was not all tears.

Around the city fireworks went off, car horns honked, and thousands of fans still made their way to the iconic Obelisk, the traditional place for football celebrations.

Initially crestfallen, they soon began partying again to celebrate their team and many said that despite the defeat, they would take to the streets to welcome the team home on Monday.

“Thank you so much, players!!! You fought until the very end. Argentina will always stand tall,” President Javier Milei wrote on X.

They gave it their all

After a scrappy World Cup run built on a series of narrow victories, Argentines were confident they could pull off a second victory in a row in the final in New Jersey.

Draped in their blue-and-white flag and donning the national football jersey, they braved an icy cold day to pack bars and public squares, fizzing with excitement at the start of the game.

In Cafe Relax, which displays a flag saying it is “forbidden to forget” the Falkland Islands, which Argentina invaded in 1982 only to be ejected by a British task force, nervous energy and excited chants gave way to tension by half-time.

In the second half angry shouts at the screen were interspersed with excited chants, and increasingly foul language, while some sat arms folded, feet tapping and chewing their nails or burying their heads in the flag.

“Oh no, it can’t be, please, please!” wailed one woman when Enzo Fernandez was sent off for two yellow cards.

Before extra time began, Teresa Dolores del Rio Varela, 87, complained that “it drags on and on, and you start to get nervous. I’m happy, but I just want it to end because it’s getting long.”

Joaquin Romero, 22, who works in sales said the game was “incredibly complicated. I don’t know how it’ll happen, but it’s going to happen for us. We’re Argentine. We’re champions and we’re going to win.”

It was not to be.

A dramatic extra-time goal by Ferran Torres cast a pall of silence over the bar for the last agonizing minutes.

Cichero said he was sad for Messi but dismayed at the game.

“I didn’t like how Argentina played. I didn’t like the game plan, the substitutions, the players. I didn’t like the referee.”

Abel Torres, a 62-year-old retiree wearing a blue-and-white jester hat and blowing a vuvuzela throughout the game, teared up as he described the “incredibly emotional” game.

“Argentina gave it their all. Today was a true example of what Argentina is all about: that despite the hard times and the obstacles we face, we always rise again.”

In Messi’s hometown Rosario, hundreds gathered to celebrate the player and his team with fireworks and chants.

“We’ve already won a cup. We can’t just break down in tears — we have to celebrate. Messi has already put us at the very top of the world,” Sergio Irrazabal told AFP.