Former Spain, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea striker Fernando Torres announces retirement

Torres won most major honours, including the World Cup and two European Championships with his national team

Euro 2008: Fernando Torres scored the only goal in the final as Spain beat Germany to become European champions. Getty Images

World Cup 2020: Fernando Torres became a world champion after Spain beat the Netherlands after extra time Getty Images

FA Cup 2012: Fernando Torres won his first piece of major club silverware when Chelsea beat his former club Liverpool in the final. Getty Images

Uefa Champions League 2012: Fernando Torres became a European club champion after Chelsea beat Bayern Munich in the final. AFP

Euro 2012: Fernando Torres helped Spain defend their European title, finishing joint-top goalscorer and once again scoring in the final. Getty Images

Europa League 2013: Fernando Torres scored in the final as Chelsea beat Benfica 2-1 in the final. Getty Images

Europa League 2018: Fernando Torres won the Europa League for a second time when Atletico Madrid beat Marseille in the final. Getty Images

Spanish striker Fernando Torres announced his retirement from football on Friday after an 18-year career that included most of the game's major honours.

Torres, who scored more than 100 goals across two spells at his boyhood club Atletico Madrid, also played for Premier League sides Liverpool and Chelsea and Italy's AC Milan.

He left Atletico to join Japan's Sagan Tosu in July last year but has struggled to hit the heights of his best days at Atletico and Liverpool at the J-League side.

"After 18 exciting years, the time has come to put an end to my football career," the 35-year-old wrote on Twitter, adding that he would hold a news conference in Japan on Sunday to explain his decision.

Torres made his Spain debut in 2003 and scored the winning goal in the 2008 European Championship final against Germany before helping his country win their first World Cup in 2010.

He was the top scorer at Euro 2012 as Spain successfully defended their title and scored 38 goals in 110 appearances for his country in total, making him Spain's country's third-highest goalscorer behind David Villa (59) and Raul (44).

Torres enjoyed his the most prolific spell at Liverpool between 2007 and 2011, netting 81 goals in 142 games across all competitions.

He moved to Chelsea from Liverpool for a then British record fee of £50 million (Dh233m), and won the FA Cup, Uefa Champions League and Europa League with the London club.

Upon returning to Atletico in 2016, Torres helped the club reach the Champions League final before winning the Europa League in 2017.