Jorge Horacio Messi, father of Argentina captain Lionel Messi and one of the most influential figures in his career, died early Saturday morning at 68 after a long illness he had been fighting for months.
The Sanatorio Centro de Rosario, the clinic where he was admitted, confirmed the death occurred at 2 a.m. local time. In a statement signed by medical director Dr. Carlos Mackey, the clinic said it was standing by his family and loved ones in this difficult moment.
Jorge Messi's role in his son's career
Jorge Messi had been at his son's side since Lionel's earliest steps in football in the youth ranks of Newell's Old Boys. He played a decisive role during the player's adolescence, when difficulties getting medical treatment in Argentina pushed the family to look for answers abroad, a process that eventually took the young Leo to Barcelona at just 13 years old.
During those first years in Spain, Jorge was the one who stayed by his son's side while the rest of the family, including mother Celia Cuccittini, returned to Rosario because their younger daughter was struggling to adapt to the move.
Over time, Jorge Messi also became his son's agent, managing all of his financial, commercial and image affairs, overseeing a fortune estimated at more than 1 billion euros. Before devoting himself fully to Leo's career, he had worked as a section chief at a steel factory, while Celia combined a job at a magnetic coil workshop with cleaning other people's homes.
Football world offers condolences
Reaction from football came quickly. Real Madrid sent its condolences to the Inter Miami forward in a statement, saying the club, its president and its board deeply regretted the death of Jorge Messi, father of Leo Messi, and wished to express their condolences to Leo, his family and all his loved ones.
FC Barcelona, the club Jorge entrusted with the start of his son's career, also publicly thanked him for that trust. The Real Spanish Football Federation said it wanted to convey all its affection and support to Lionel and his loved ones in this moment of profound grief.
Messi travels to Rosario for the funeral
Lionel Messi was in Miami when he received the news and traveled immediately with his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, on a private flight to Rosario, landing around 8:45 p.m. Saturday to say goodbye to his father at an intimate ceremony at the El Prado cemetery.
The death comes just weeks after the Messi family issued a statement on June 18 saying Jorge was under medical supervision, recovering and evolving favorably within his condition, without specifying the exact diagnosis at the time, while also voicing discontent over rumors circulating about his health.
Messi's earlier words on his father's sacrifice
During the 2026 World Cup, Messi had already acknowledged publicly that he was going through complicated days on a family level, and that support from his teammates and those around him had been essential in getting through them.
Messi had reflected on that same paternal figure, and on the sacrifice involved in supporting a child in sport, in a conversation with Zinedine Zidane some time ago, words that now carry particular weight. He spoke of the sacrifice parents make, saying that today, as a father himself who has the luck and the time to take his own children to training or pick them up from school, he understands the effort and sacrifice parents make for their children, the trips, taking them to train without rest, coming home from work and rushing out again, taking them to play wherever on weekends.
Messi recalled in detail the routine that marked his childhood because of his parents' effort. He said his mother often took him to training because his father could not, since he was working, but that he remembered his father getting up every day at four in the morning, returning home at four or five in the afternoon, having a quick mate on arrival, and then heading off to training, almost every day of the week.
Messi closed that reflection with a line that now carries even greater and more emotional weight, saying he deeply valued all the effort parents make for their children.
