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In a farewell letter, the Atlético Madrid player said it was, "a personal decision, one I've thought through very carefully and, above all, one that comes from the heart." He also clarified that the outcome of the tournament would not have made a difference on his choice, saying, "regardless of whether I had gone to the World Cup or not, or whether we had won or not, I had already made this decision."

While he mostly operates as a midfielder, Llorente played as a right-back for his national team during this World Cup where he provided the assist to Álex Baena during Spain's 1-0 win against Uruguay.

The La Liga player, still only 31, addressed the relatively young age at which he is retiring, saying, "I realize that I'm still young and that, perhaps, if I continued to perform well, I'd still have years left to play in this jersey." He further said, "I know many of you won't understand this, and I probably wouldn't have understood it either if I were looking at it from the outside."

He signed the letter off by thanking his Spanish teammates for the journey he has been on. "I'll cherish everything I've experienced, but above all, these last 52 days. With a wonderful group that fought until the very end to put Spain at the top. And that's exactly what they did."

Llorente currently plays for Atlético Madrid and signed an extension with the club just 5 months ago. While his contract runs out by 2027, in an interview with Sport, he said, "if I am honest I would like to retire at Atlético de Madrid."