'Your support was wonderful': Lionel Messi's Argentina National Team thanks fans in India for support

After the South American heavyweight Argentina lifted the FIFA World Cup in an exciting final against France on Sunday night in Qatar, the fans in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, who have been supporting Lionel Messi and the team, got a note from the Argentine National Team thanking them for their support and love. The official Twitter handle of the Argentine National Team posted a message retweeting a celebration video: “Thank you Bangladesh 🤩 Thank you Kerala, India, Pakistan. Your support was wonderful!,” read the tweet.   

Indian states like Kerala and West Bengal, and the countries in the south Asia region, are known for their love of soccer even though they have never qualified for a major international football tournament. The states of Kerala and West Bengal especially have a huge fanbase for football-playing countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Portugal, which dates back to the days of Pele and Diego Maradona. 

After Argentina won the final match against France on Sunday, soccer fans were seen celebrating on the streets screaming out of joy, bursting firecrackers, and shouting Messi’s name. The streets of Kerala and Bengal resembled that of Argentina and were decked up with effigies and cutouts of football stars like Messi, Neymar Jr, and Cristiano Ronaldo.  

Earlier, Brazil superstar Neymar also thanked his fans in Kerala after their team lost in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup against Croatia. Neymar, on his Instagram handle, reposted the Neymar Fans Welfare Association’s photo of a young boy sitting on a grown man's shoulder, both of them wearing Neymar's Brazil jersey. Replying the post, Neymar wrote: “O carinho chega de todas as artes do mundo! (Affection comes from all the arts in the world) Thank you so much, Kerala, India.”  

Earlier, even FIFA had posted images of the giant cut-outs of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Cristiano Ronaldo displayed at Pullavoor village in Kozhikode to show how football’s craze reached the state.