James Maddison hails Lionel Messi as the GOAT as he receives superstar's Argentina kit from club teammate
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder James Maddison hailed Lionel Messi as the greatest of all time after receiving Messi's Argentina kit from the latter's compatriot Cristian Romero, who's a centre-back for Spurs.
Messi is widely regarded as one of the best ever to grace the beautiful game, having amassed 846 goals for club and country and a record 46 titles, including two this year.
Having won every title on offer in club and international football, Messi is still going strong, having struck a 58th career hat-trick - including 10th for Argentina - in their 6-0 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier home win over Chile earlier this week.
On receiving Messi's Argentina jersey from his Spurs teammate Romero, Maddison posted a picture of the same and wrote in his Instagram stories along with the GOAT emoji (as per Albiceleste Talk):
"Thank you brother CutiRomero2"
It's pertinent to note that Maddison had hailed Messi as the GOAT after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup final to 'complete' football, posting (as per Lionel 30i):
"For those who know football that tonight's result didn't determine whether Messi was the best player ever or not. But yet I'm so happy he did it for the people who thought he needed it, so now there's no debate."
The post was viewed over 5.6 million times, retweeted 25K times and attracted over 1.4K comments. The aforementioned game saw Messi bag a brace and also score in the ensuing shootout as Argentina beat holders France 4-2 on penalties after a 3-3 draw in extra time to win their third World Cup.
How has Lionel Messi fared in Argentina's 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign?
Argentina captain Lionel Messi has had a rather quiet 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. The 37-year-old has six goals and two assists in seven games.
However, half of those goals and both assists came in the aforementioned win over Bolivia. Messi had returned to action in the 1-1 draw at Venezuela four days earlier following a two-month layoff after suffering an ankle injury in the 2024 Copa America final win over Colombia.
The Albiceleste won that game 1-0 in extra time to become the first 16-time Copa champions, with Messi hobbling off midway through the second period. Since then, he won a record-extending 46th career title when Inter Miami clinched their first Supporters' Shield - for topping the MLS regular-season points table.