Jorge Messi Dead at 68: Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent Passes Away
Jorge Messi, the father and longtime agent of Argentine football icon Lionel Messi, has died at the age of 68. He passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning at Sanatorio Centro, a hospital in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina, following what the family had described only as a prolonged illness.
The hospital’s medical director, Dr. Carlos Mackey, confirmed the death in a statement but said no further details about the medical circumstances would be shared, citing the family’s privacy. That’s been the pattern for months now — Jorge’s health had been a quiet undercurrent throughout this year’s World Cup, mentioned only in passing, never fully explained.
And that’s the part that matters here. Fans had noticed something was off back in June, when Lionel Messi broke down after scoring in Argentina’s tournament opener against Algeria. He later told reporters the emotion “had nothing to do with football,” describing weeks of difficult, complicated days at home. At the time, most people assumed it was pressure — the weight of maybe one last World Cup. It wasn’t. It was his father.
Jorge wasn’t able to travel to North America for the tournament, which says a lot for a man who’d been at nearly every major moment of his son’s career, including Argentina’s historic 2022 World Cup win in Qatar. Instead, Lionel carried the tournament run — all the way to a final against Spain on July 19 — largely without him in the stands for the first time in years.
Who Was Jorge Messi?
Before he was known as “Lionel Messi’s dad,” Jorge Horacio Messi was a chemical technician and steelworker from Rosario. He’d played as a midfielder in his youth, even reaching Newell’s Old Boys’ junior ranks, before military service cut his own playing days short. Football stayed in the family regardless — his son would go on to wear the Newell’s crest as a boy before the move that changed everything.
Here’s the thing people forget none of Lionel’s career happens the way it did without Jorge’s early decisions. It was Jorge who took a young Leo to Barcelona for the trial that opened the door to La Masia, the academy that shaped him into the player he became. From there, Jorge stayed close to the football side and, increasingly, the business side — managing contracts, sponsorships, and the machinery around one of the sport’s biggest names, through Barcelona, the move to PSG, and eventually Inter Miami.
It wasn’t always smooth. Jorge faced a Spanish tax fraud case tied to image-rights income between 2007 and 2009, a legal saga that dragged on for years and put his name in headlines for reasons that had nothing to do with football. Lionel was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing in that case; Jorge’s situation was more complicated. It’s a part of the story that doesn’t get left out just because he’s gone — but it’s also not what defined him to the people who knew him best.
Tributes From Across Football
Newell’s Old Boys, the club where the Messi family’s football story really begins, was among the first to react. In a statement, the club called Jorge “the pillar and the person who, with vision, rigor and affection, supported the career of the best player of all time,” alongside his wife, Celia Cuccittini.
Barcelona followed with its own message, thanking Jorge for his commitment to the club and extending condolences to the family. CONMEBOL, South America’s football confederation, offered condolences “with respect and affection for Lionel.” UNICEF, where Lionel Messi has served as a goodwill ambassador for years, also paid tribute, describing Jorge as someone “always committed to the rights of boys and girls” and a longtime benefactor of the organization.
Jorge is survived by his wife, Celia, and four children — Lionel and his two older brothers, Rodrigo and Matías, plus Lionel’s younger sister, María Sol. It’s a big family, and by all accounts a tight one, which is probably why the illness stayed so private for so long. That’s not unusual for the Messis. They’ve spent two decades in the public eye without ever fully opening up the personal side of things, and this was no different.
What Happens Now
There’s no word yet on funeral arrangements and given the family’s approach to privacy throughout Jorge’s illness, it wouldn’t be surprising if that stays quiet too. What’s more likely to play out publicly is how Lionel Messi responds on the pitch — whether he takes time away from Inter Miami’s current MLS campaign, or whether, like plenty of athletes before him, he leans back into football as a way of processing it.
For what it’s worth, Messi has never hidden how much his father meant to his career. Back in 2007, he said plainly that his dad had always been by his side. Thirty-nine years old now, with a World Cup title, eight Ballon d’Or awards, and a runner-up finish in this summer’s tournament behind him, Messi built all of it with Jorge somewhere close by — first as a father pushing a talented kid through trials in Barcelona, later as the man handling contracts most fans never saw.
That’s the story that’s harder to sum up in a headline. Jorge Messi wasn’t just an agent. He was the person who made the rest of it possible.