On his last leg of the GOAT India Tour, Argentina football icon Lionel Messi on Monday (December 15) was presented with India versus USA Men's T20 World Cup 2026 match tickets by ICC chairman Jay Shah in Delhi.
Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta and DDCA president Rohan Jaitley also graced the event at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Messi, along with Rodrigo de Paul and Luis Suarez, was also gifted a framed cricket bat and a Team India jersey.
Former Indian goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan, who represented West Ham United in the Women's Premier League, gifted a signed t-shirt to all three soccer stars.
Messi was left overwhelmed by the crowd present at the venue cheering his name. “Thank you for all the affection you have shown us here in India over these days. Truly, it was a unique experience for us to be able to share this. Although it was intense and very short, it was wonderful to receive all this love, which I already knew was there, but experiencing it firsthand was incredible. Everything you did for us over these days was astonishing, pure madness. So thank you all for the love, and we will surely return someday — perhaps to play a match or on some other occasion — but we will definitely visit again. Thank you very much, thank you," the legendary footballer said.
Messi was scheduled to arrive in Delhi earlier this morning, but his charter flight was held up due to foggy conditions in the national capital. He straightaway proceeded to the Leela Palace Hotel, where he had a meet-and-greet session for around an hour with a select group of people.
On the first day of his GOAT India Tour, Lionel Messi unveiled a 70-ft statue in Kolkata, but the event at Salt Lake Stadium turned sour with fans throwing chairs and bottles towards the ground after failing to catch a glimpse of the Argentine.
However, his visit to Hyderabad and Mumbai was very smooth. Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar presented Lional Messi with his iconic No. 10 jersey at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (December 14). The Argentine accepted the gift gracefully, and the duo posed for an iconic photograph.
The moment was met with loud cheers and the presenter reminded the fans about the "No. 10" connection between the two greats. Both superstars in their sports, share the common jersey number.
(With IANS Inputs)
