Pique earned 102 caps for his national team.
Spain's 2010 World Cup and 2012 Euro winner Gerard Pique has confirmed that he is stepping down from international football.
Pique earned 102 caps for his national team. Pique had hinted that Russia 2018 would be his last major tournament as part of La Roja before the world cup. Spain were knocked out by Russia in the Round of 16 stage.
Pique declared his intention to quit international football after the 2018 World Cup following a World Cup qualifier against Albania in October 2016, saying he was tired of repeated criticism from supporters and the media, and that he wished "to be left in peace".
Now he has confirmed the desicion.
The outspoken Barcelona-born defender has never enjoyed the same rapport with Spain supporters as his international team mates, and he has often been booed at games due to his repeated jibes at Real Madrid and his support for a referendum on Catalan independence.
Pique, 31, did not confirm his departure immediately after Spain were eliminated by hosts Russia in the last 16 of the World Cup, but he said he had already told Luis Enrique -- who succeeded Julen Lopetegui last month as national team coach -- that he would not be returning to the set-up.
"I have had a really good time, with a European Championship and a World Cup, but that story is at an end," he told reporters on Saturday prior to Barcelona's Supercopa clash with Sevilla, according tp GOAL.com.
"I have told this to Luis Enrique."
"It has been a wonderful time and I have experienced amazing things, but sometimes you have to end cycles and you have to do that in the right fashion."
Pique joins former Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta, who also announced his international retirement in the wake of July's last-16 elimination at the hands of hosts Russia.
On Friday, Pique was elected as one of the captains of the Barcelona side. The 31-year-old was elected as the third captain of the La Liga side. The first will be Lionel Messi who replaces Andres Iniesta as the head of the squad, while Sergio Busquets, who was the fourth captain, becomes second.
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