Argentina’s plan to permanently retire Lionel Messi’s iconic No. 10 shirt has been blocked by FIFA regulations.

The Argentine Football Association had hoped to honour the star by taking the number out of use after his retirement from international football.

Messi announced on August 31 that he would retire from international duty after more than two decades with Argentina. The Inter Miami forward is expected to make his farewell appearance before home fans on October 6 when Argentina faces Benin in a friendly at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.

Messi has 207 international appearances and 125 goals, and has worn the No. 10 shirt for much of his career with the national team. However, FIFA rules require teams competing in international tournaments to use squad numbers from 1 to 26, making it impossible for Argentina to permanently retire the number.

A similar situation occurred when Liberia tried to retire 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 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has said the team is not obliged to assign the No. 10 for upcoming matches and will wait until after Messi’s farewell game to decide. Reports suggest that young attacking midfielder Nico Paz is the leading candidate to take over the shirt if Scaloni remains in charge.

Photo credit: Punch Newspaper