(FILES) (COMBO) This combination of file photographs created on November 29, 2021, shows Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi reacting as he receives the Ballon d'Or football award (top, L to R) for the year 2009 in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris, on December 6, 2009; for the year 2010 in Zurich, on January 10, 2011; for the year 2011 in Zurich on January 9, 2012; for the year 2012 in Zurich on January 7, 2013; (bottom L to R) for the year 2015 in Zurich on January 11, 2016; for the year 2019 in Paris on December 2, 2019; for the year 2021 in Paris on November 29, 2021; and the award displayed at the ceremony in Paris on November 29, 2021. Argentina superstar Lionel Messi said on August 12, 2026 he has "serious doubts" about continuing to play football for "much longer" after the death of his father Jorge Messi. "I don't know what I'll do without you, I don't know how to go on. I just played football, and now I have serious doubts about continuing to do so for much longer," Messi, 39, wrote in a message on social media after his father, who was also his agent, died last week aged 68. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)