Early morning of November 1 (Vietnam time), Lionel Messi met journalist Fabrizio Romano in an exclusive interview with 433 and Apple TV. Here, the 2022 World Cup champion shared about the importance of family, along with his simple hobbies as he enters his “twilight” years.

After nearly 20 years of playing at the top level, Messi has reached every peak of his football career. In addition to 8 Golden Balls, Messi has just added the Supporters’ Shield to his collection of 46 titles, breaking Dani Alves’ record.

Messi said that right now, he is just trying to play football well every day, without thinking too far ahead: “I have had to change the way I play, to suit my physical strength and age. Right now, I just hope to close the season strong, then prepare for the next season. I will live, enjoy each day without thinking too much about the future.”

Family always comes first

During the interview, journalist Fabrizio Romano showed superstar Lionel Messi 3 photos that the program had prepared. He asked Messi how he wanted to be remembered by his fans between 3 options: “The son of the family”, “A person who is always thirsty, has won everything but still wants to conquer more” or “The boy Leo Messi in Rosario who wants to conquer the world?”.

Messi immediately chose a photo of himself, his wife and three children and said: “It must be family, always family.”

Responding to Romano’s question, Messi said: “I don’t know, the truth is that people remember me in whatever way they want. I am grateful for my career because I have achieved everything I wanted. I was lucky to conquer the biggest dream, the World Cup, it was extremely valuable.

I’ve been lucky to win everything with Barcelona, the national team, have a wonderful life and family. I’m grateful to God for everything he’s given me, and people can remember me however they want.

Messi also shared that in his free time, he often plays football with his two sons. The life of the entire Messi family almost revolves around the round ball. When Messi plays football in the garden, he even receives criticism from his two sons Thiago and Mateo.

“If I have free time, I play football with my children. Everything revolves around football. We play PlayStation sometimes, but in general, we prefer to pass the ball ourselves, touch the ball ourselves.

I sometimes have to think about giving them advice, because one of them is more hot-tempered than the others. They even show me how to kick the ball properly. When the family watches one of my matches, they criticize me for a few moments too,” Messi said about his activities with his children.

Messi has no intention of attending the 2026 World Cup

“Every time I return to Argentina, my friends and relatives ask me about the possibility of participating in the 2026 World Cup. But the truth is that I haven’t thought about this yet,” said Lionel Messi.

Lionel Messi’s presence at the 2026 World Cup is a topic of particular interest to fans. At 37 years old, the Argentine superstar is still making history with Inter Miami. Messi and his teammates topped the Eastern Conference standings after 34 matches, winning the Supporters’ Shield with a record score of 74 points.

As for Messi, he is in the top 5 nominees for the MLS Player of the Season award. Messi said he only thinks about the upcoming matches, not too much about the distant future: “Right now, I just want to close the season strong, then prepare for the next season. From there, I will consider the next possibilities. Football has many unpredictable factors. The road to the World Cup is still long, so I haven’t thought much about it yet.”

As he gets older, Messi becomes more leisurely in his match preparation. He often listens to music and drinks tea to calm down, although he himself admits that these are “nothing special” habits.

“I like listening to music in the dressing room. I sip mate tea. Actually, how much I drink depends on the time of the match. I don’t think it’s a big deal. My habits are nothing special. I also like ice cream. I’m not a salty person. I think I like sweets, desserts more,” Messi said.