Argentina's plan to permanently retire Lionel Messi's iconic No. 10 shirt has been blocked by FIFA regulations.
GOAL.com reported on Thursday that the Argentine Football Association had wanted to withdraw the Messi No 10 shirt from circulation after the forward retires from international football.
Messi announced on August 31 that he would retire from international football after more than two decades with Argentina.
The Inter Miami forward is expected to make his final appearance before home fans on October 6, when Argentina face Benin in a friendly at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.
Messi has made 207 appearances for Argentina and scored 125 goals. He has worn the No. 10 shirt for much of his international career.
FIFA rule prevents permanent retirement
The proposal cannot proceed because FIFA regulations require teams competing in international final tournaments to use squad numbers from 1 to 26. The rule prevents Argentina from permanently retiring the Messi No 10 shirt.
Liberia faced a similar situation after retiring the No. 14 shirt in honour of former striker and president George Weah. FIFA later required the number to be used again during the country's 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has yet to decide who will take over the number.
ESPN quoted Scaloni as saying: "We are not obliged to assign it for the upcoming matches, so we will give it to no one until after Leo's farewell match. We just have not yet decided who."
ESPN Argentina reporter Federico Bueno reported that Nico Paz is the leading candidate to inherit the shirt if Scaloni extends his contract.
"If Scaloni extends his contract as Argentina head coach, then Nico Paz will be the new number 10. That has been decided internally," Bueno said.
Paz, 22, is an attacking midfielder who previously played for Real Madrid before joining Italian side Como permanently for €60m last summer. He has made 11 appearances for Argentina and scored once.
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