Beckham and Mourinho pay tribute to Messi

Former England captain Sir David Beckham, co-owner of Messi's club Inter Miami, paid tribute to the Argentine's international career, stating that Messi has inspired "millions of children worldwide" and his "legacy will live forever." Beckham highlighted Messi's achievements, including scoring 125 goals in 207 games for Argentina, leading them to World Cup glory in 2022 and reaching the final in 2026, as well as winning two Copa America titles in 2021 and 2024.

Beckham described the moment as one where they could "look back" and realize how grateful they were to witness Messi's greatness.

Former Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho also commented on Messi's retirement, expressing that "the next Copa America and the next World Cup won't be the same" without Messi involved. Mourinho frequently managed against Messi during his first stint at Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, where the duo won the Ballon d'Or in three consecutive years (2010-2012).

Fellow Argentina World Cup winning team-mate Angel di Maria, who also played alongside Messi at Paris St-Germain, described him as "the greatest of all time." Di Maria added that he was "born in the right century" to witness Messi's performances and share those years with him in the national team. Former Argentina World Cup winning team-mate and ex-Spurs defender Cristian Romero expressed that as a kid, he dreamed of meeting Messi but never imagined the gift of sharing this with him and living by his side through the golden era of the Argentine national team.

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez shared a similar dream of playing with Messi "even just once," stating that life ended up being far more beautiful than the boy had imagined. Fernandez mentioned that they shared training camps, the dressing room, conversations, embraces, difficult and wonderful moments, and ended up as world champions together.