Official: 31-year-old Atletico Madrid defender Marcos Llorente announces retirement from Spain national team

Official news: 31-year-old Atletico Madrid defender Marcos Llorente has announced his retirement from the Spain national team.

The full text of Marcos Llorente's social media post:

After a long period of repeated consideration, I have decided to end my journey with the national team.

I know I am still young, and perhaps if I continued to maintain good form, I could have worn this shirt and represented the national team for many more years.

I know many people may not understand this decision. To be honest, if I were looking at it from an outsider's perspective, I might not understand it either. But this is a personal decision made after careful thought and from the bottom of my heart.

Regardless of whether I was ultimately selected for the World Cup, and regardless of whether we eventually won the title, this decision had actually already been made by me.

The only thing I can do is to be endlessly grateful to everyone I have met over these years. Because of you, my family and I have been able to experience those unique and unforgettable moments.

I will treasure all the experiences along the way, but what I will remember most, especially, are the past 52 days. We had an outstanding team that fought until the end to put Spain on top of the podium. And we achieved it.

Being able to represent my country and become part of this history is my pride.

Thank you for everything.

Sending everyone a hug. (End of full text)

The 31-year-old Marcos Llorente made his Spain national team debut in November 2020. So far, he has made 19 appearances for the national team and won the 2026 World Cup title with the team.