Argentina Settles on ‘Two-Man Shortlist’ to Inherit Lionel Messi’s No. 10 Jersey

Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni has reportedly narrowed down the list of potential candidates to take on the mantle of Lionel Messi’s No. 10 shirt to the experienced figure of Lautaro Martínez or the bright young gem, Nico Paz.

Replacing Messi’s impact, output or influence on the national team is effectively impossible. “To become Messi, you need to win both the genetic lottery and the social lottery,” Argentina’s former World Cup winner Jorge Valdano memorably put it.

Scaloni will have to set about reconfiguring his side to find a way of replicating Messi in the aggregate, but there is a—theoretically easier—decision to fill the void he leaves in a tangible sense: Who gets his No. 10 shirt?

It is both a blessing and a burden to take on this precious digits, particularly if the person to have last worn them is your nation’s greatest player of all time. Nevertheless, that is a task set to be taken on by either Paz or Martínez, ESPN Argentina report.

The pair represent two different paths; Scaloni could turn to the generation which has brought such success in the last five years. It was Martínez who scored the only goal of the 2024 Copa América final after Messi was forced off through injury, helping Argentina claim its fourth trophy in as many years, all of which the Inter Milan captain was part of.

Much like Martínez, Paz wears the No. 10 shirt for his Serie A club, serving as the central hub for all of Como’s dizzying forward raids. The 22-year-old earned his first call up in 2024 and has tentatively eased his way in from the fringes. After a bit-part role at last summer’s World Cup, Paz scored in all three of Argentina’s first post-tournament fixtures including one fittingly teed up by his idol.

“The first time I saw him, I fell in love with the way he played,” Paz has gushed of Messi. “My father and I would always try to calculate whether there might be enough time for me to eventually play alongside him. We saw it as nearly impossible, but in the end, fate—or God—made it possible for that dream to come true. I’m so glad I got to experience it.” Now he could have the ultimate experience of inhabiting his number.

Another prospect raised is the possibility of Scaloni failing to give any player the No. 10 shirt. That sort of jiggery-pokery is prohibited in friendlies but the rules are a lot stricter for major international tournaments.

FIFA insist that each nation must designate consecutive numbers for every player going to the tournament, without exception. Take the 2026 World Cup for example, where each roster had 26 players taking the digits between one and 26.

The last player not called Lionel Messi to wear the No. 10 shirt at a major international tournament for Argentina was the great Juan Román Riquelme at the 2007 Copa América, adding the illustrious history of a number which has long been cherished.

The No. 10 is favored by creative players everywhere, but no nation fetishizes it quite like Argentina. In the country’s quest to create its own soccer identity detached from established and systemized European powers, there was a drive to accommodate a uniquely creative figure, the sporting equivalent of the gauchos who crystallized that sense of Argentinidad—Argentinian-ness. That figure would wear the No. 10.

“We all thought we were a bit different as players,” Messi reflected years ago. “Even if we weren’t, we all wanted to wear No. 10 from a young age. Obviously, it’s always been a special shirt.”

It helped that the best player invariably wore the No. 10, creating a virtuous cycle of adoration. For the 1978 World Cup roster, Argentina handed out shirt numbers alphabetically. Midfielder Ossie Ardiles took the No. 1, and it just so happened that the star player Mario Kempes lined up for the No. 10. When a certain Diego Maradona made his tournament debut in 1982, he broke the rule and was given No. 10 anyway.

“No matter what happens and no matter who is in charge, the No. 10 shirt will always be mine,” the legendary midfielder declared. Whomever Scaloni chooses, Argentina will always have its true No. 10.