Lionel Messi shares tribute to late father Jorge, expresses doubts about continuing to play soccer

MIAMI (AP) — Lionel Messi shared a tribute to his late father, Jorge, on social media on Wednesday, opening up about how difficult it was to lead Argentina to the World Cup final and expressing uncertainty about whether he will continue playing soccer.

“I don't know what I'm going to do without you,” the post said in Spanish, shared on Messi's Instagram. “I don't know how to keep going. All I ever did was play soccer, and now I have serious doubts about whether I'll keep doing it for much longer.”

Jorge Messi — who played a fundamental role in the soccer star's career, serving as his agent and managing his business affairs — died Saturday. He was 68.

Lionel Messi led Argentina to a runner-up finish in this summer's World Cup. In the team’s first match, against Algeria, he was visibly emotional after scoring the first of his three goals. He said later that he wept for “a reason unrelated to sports.”

“You asked me to play in this last World Cup so many times and just before it started was when you took a turn for the worse," the post said. “It was the first time you weren't going to be at the tournament. But mom kept telling me that you were going to get better and that you'd be well enough to travel. I kept telling you that we were going to make it to the final so you could travel.”

The post added that Messi “wanted to win it” for his father.

“I couldn't,” the post continued. “My legs had nothing left. This time I tried to push beyond what my body could handle, but I couldn't. I never managed to feel right.”

Messages of support for the Messi family have poured in over recent days. Messi had returned to his native Argentina and missed his MLS club Inter Miami's recent Leagues Cup match against Monterrey.

Inter Miami concludes the group phase of the tournament Wednesday night against León, though coach Guillermo Hoyos said Tuesday there is no timetable for Messi's return.

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A mural of soccer player Lionel Messi's adorns a facade of his childhood home on the day his father, Jorge Messi, died following a long illness, in Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Inter Miami midfielder Rodrigo de Paul, left, celebrates after scoring a goal, wearing the shirt of teammate Lionel Messi (10) who did not play due to death of his father, during the first half of a Leagues Cup soccer match against Monterrey, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

GENEVA (AP) — The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo is on track to surpass the deadliest one in history that killed over 11,000 people out of more than 28,000 cases, the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

“At its current pace, it's on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. That outbreak horrified the world and jolted efforts to develop a vaccine.

The outbreak in eastern Congo, considered the fastest-growing in history, has killed over 2,000 people out of more than 4,300 cases. The outbreak was declared on May 15, but health authorities now say sequencing showed it began months earlier, in February.

It is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments, though efforts to address that are underway.

Experts say this outbreak is moving faster than efforts to track and manage it in a remote part of eastern Congo facing ongoing conflict, near the borders with South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.

Most of the new cases and deaths are still being reported in communities outside the reach of health workers in a region of poor infrastructure and ill-equipped health centers. Some health workers have gone on strike over lack of pay. Misinformation about the virus continues to circulate in communities where some are wary of outsiders, keeping some people from clinics.

“The outbreak had a big head start, still way ahead of us. and we’re playing catch-up,” Tedros said.

Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud, WHO's director for health emergency alert and response operations, said the agency expects the peak of the outbreak to be reached in six months.

“But ... that’s the moderate scenario,” Mahamud added. “There is a one-case scenario where this outbreak may last nine months to 12 months."

People dressed in protective gear lower into a grave the coffin containing the remains of Jeannine Katusabe, who died of Ebola, during a burial service in Bunia, Ituri province, eastern Congo, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dieudonne Dirole)