Two Shirts, 21 Years: Messi’s First and Last Argentina Jerseys
Lionel Messi’s Argentina career ran from a red card in Budapest in 2005 to a send-off at the Estadio Monumental in 2026: 208 caps, 126 goals and 68 assists, and four senior international trophies. This page follows the shirts at either end of it — the 2006 Bringback Away from the summer of his first World Cup, and the 2026 farewell shirt he wore in his last Argentina match — together with the two shirts he wore at his final World Cup and the 2006 home design from the same set.
The first one: the 2006 Bringback Away
Messi was 18 when he came off the bench in Budapest on 17 August 2005 for his first senior cap, and the evening ended with a red card rather than a debut goal. A year later he was in Germany for the 2006 World Cup, in the No. 19 shirt, inside a squad that was built around Juan Román Riquelme.
He played three times that summer: two appearances off the bench and one start. The goal came against Serbia & Montenegro, where he came on in the second half and scored the sixth in a 6-0 win — his only goal of the tournament, and the first of the 21 he would eventually score at World Cups.
The Bringback Away is a reissue of the navy shirt from that 2006 set, cut in the looser supporter fit and stocked with his name and number already printed on the back. Trim, crest and the collar all follow the shirt Argentina took to Germany.
The same summer, in stripes: the 2006 Bringback Home
The home shirt from the same set is the one Argentina have worn in almost every cycle since: sky-blue and white stripes, a round neck and navy trim on the shoulders, with the crest on the left chest. In 2006 it was the shirt of the group stage in Germany, and the design every Argentina home shirt since has been a response to.
Both 2006 Bringback shirts come in men’s, women’s and youth sizing, so the same shirt can be ordered for the whole family.
The last one: the 2026 farewell shirt
On 6 October 2026 Messi played his 208th and final Argentina match: a friendly against Benin at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires, won 3-0. He took the corner that Nicolás Otamendi turned in on 48 minutes, set up Nico Paz on 61 minutes, and converted a penalty on 71 minutes for his 126th goal for his country.
The shirt for that night was a special edition built on the Argentina home design: a sky-blue body with a single wide white band down the centre, a black collar and cuffs finished in gold, and his name and number in gold on the back. On the right chest, where the team’s kit supplier mark normally sits, the shirt carries a gold M emblem instead.
Away from the design details, the shirt is the record of a specific night: the 10th-minute ovation that stopped the match, the 85,000-plus crowd, and the 126th and final goal of the Argentina career that had started in Budapest 21 years earlier.
What he wore at his last World Cup
The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico was Messi’s sixth, and the last one he played. Argentina went in as defending champions and reached the final in New York and New Jersey, where they lost 1-0 to Spain. Messi scored eight goals in the tournament, passed Miroslav Klose’s record for World Cup goals for a spell, and finished on 21 — one behind Kylian Mbappé.
Two shirts carried the team through it. The home shirt keeps the sky-blue and white vertical stripes, with each blue band fading through three shades — the design’s reference to the three World Cup titles of 1978, 1986 and 2022 — and the founding year of the Argentine Football Association, 1893, printed inside the back of the neck. As defending champions, Argentina wore a gold tournament patch on the right sleeve and a gold champions badge on the chest.
The away shirt goes the other way entirely: a black base covered in a swirling blue pattern drawn from Argentine decorative motifs, a heritage logo mark on the right chest, and “ARGENTINA” with the Sol de Mayo inside the back of the neck.
The two ends of the career, side by side
| 2006 Bringback Away | 2026 Farewell Shirt | |
|---|---|---|
| Worn at | Germany 2006, his first World Cup | Buenos Aires, 6 October 2026, his 208th and final cap |
| Number | 19 | 10, in gold on the back |
| Base | Navy with light blue trim | Sky blue with one wide white band down the centre |
| Collar | Round neck, navy | Black with gold trim |
| Chest | AFA crest | Gold M emblem on the right chest |
| Order in | Men’s, Women’s and Youth | Men’s, Women’s and Youth |
Every number he wore for Argentina
| Number | Years | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 2005 | Under-20 world title in the Netherlands, then the senior debut in Budapest on 17 August 2005 |
| 19 | 2006–2008 | Germany 2006, where he scored his first World Cup goal, and the 2007 Copa América |
| 15 | 2008 | Beijing, where Argentina won Olympic gold |
| 10 | 2009–2026 | From 28 March 2009, against Venezuela, to the 2026 World Cup final and the farewell match |
The No. 10 only became his on 28 March 2009, in a World Cup qualifier against Venezuela that Argentina won 4-0, after Riquelme stepped away from the national team. Everything that defines the career came in that shirt: the 2021 Copa América that ended a 28-year wait for a senior trophy, the 2022 World Cup, the 2022 Finalissima and the 2024 Copa América.
Written by Football Jersey Hub. Career details cross-checked against match records and published reports from August 2026 onwards.