Argentina captain Lionel Messi celebrated with 'fake' FIFA World Cup trophy in record-breaking Instagram post
Argentina captain Lionel Messi completed football with the 2022 FIFA World Cup triumph. Messi's Instagram post while celebrating with the trophy became the most likes one on the platform, accumulating more than 74 million likes.
However, according to The Sun, Messi was celebrating with a fake trophy in the picture. That's because the original FIFA World Cup trophy was taken away from the pitch by FIFA after the customary trophy lift.
Messi was unaware of the fact and so were other Argentina players. Angel Di Maria eventually spotted that and pointed out to Messi.
The trophy was made by Argentina fans Manuel and Paula (as reported by El Paris). They later revealed that the aim was to collect signatures from as many La Albiceleste stars as possible. They said (via Daily Star):
"The idea was that the players could sign it, but in the end the Cup entered the field of play three times. The first one was taken by a relative of (Leandro) Paredes, and he signed it. The second time they asked us for it, and it was 45 minutes, it went from one player to another, from one family member to another, and they took photos. In the stands, they told me 'you lost the Cup'. We had fun, but we wanted it back."
They added:
"There I yelled at a couple of players 'if you see the Cup that Paredes has, it's ours', and in the end Lautaro MartÃnez brought it, who also signed it. FIFA personnel came there and asked us to confirm that it was not the original."
The fans were successful in their goal, as even Lionel Messi was unaware that it was not the original trophy.
Lionel Messi is back at PSG following Argentina's 2022 FIFA World Cup triumph
Lionel Messi has rejoined his club side following Argentina's 2022 FIFA World Cup triumph.
The Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) superstar penned a message after receiving a warm welcome back from his teammates. He wrote:
"Many thanks to my colleagues and all the people of the club for the welcome they gave me. We're back and looking forward to continuing to meet the goals of this season, now with the @psg."
Lionel Messi has 14 goals and 12 assists in club football this season, having bagged seven goals and three assists in seven games in Argentina's successful World Cup campaign.