Thousands of adoring supporters had paid up to 12,000 rupees (£100; $133) to catch a glimpse of the football star.

A short clip from a recent Major League Soccer (MLS) match has fans buzzing. Lionel Messi was heard speaking English during a light exchange with a referee. The moment, recorded through the league’s referee body camera system and shared by popular football page 433 on X (formerly known as Twitter),

The Spain star becomes the youngest player to reach 150 appearances for Barcelona in La Liga at the tender age of 23 years and 18 days. He beats the record previously held by a certain Lionel Messi, who was 23 years and 121 days when he hit the landmark against Real Zaragoza.

Messi Fragrance is going masstige. The men’s fragrance brand — founded by Lionel Messi — has officially partnered with Walmart to launch a trio of body sprays and eau de toilettes in Red, Black and Silver scent profiles.

Having a statue in your honor is a mixed bag if you're a legendary soccer player. It can be either a life-affirming blessing or a hideous curse.

Lionel Messi's dominance since arriving in MLS is clear when you dig into the numbers, and he has more silverware to show for it

Earlier in the day, Messi had virtually unveiled a 70-foot iron statue of himself holding the FIFA World Cup trophy at Lake Town’s Sree Bhumi Sporting Club.

Lionel Messi met fans at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, on Saturday. There was controversy in Kolkata during his Salt Lake Stadium visit and police detained the main organiser.|