Video of Lionel Messi 'speaking English' generated by AI has gone viral

A video of Lionel Messi speaking English has been generated by artificial intelligence.

On Thursday, Messi netted the only goal of the game as Argentina claimed a 1-0 home win over Ecuador, with the reigning champions getting their World Cup qualifying off to a positive start.

After the encounter, the seven-time Ballon d’Or international said: “Everyone always wants to beat Argentina and even more so now that we are the world champions. We can’t relax, we have to improve on what we’ve been doing.

“The objective is to qualify for the World Cup again. We really enjoyed what we did but we have to look ahead.”

Of course, those quotes have been translated. Messi was speaking to the press in Spanish, with the 36-year-old superstar notoriously having never spoken English in public.

While the Inter Miami star admitted in the past to having taken English lessons, he is unable to speak the language fluently.

However, an AI has generated what Messi would sound like if he were fluent in English, which you can watch below.

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Fans on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, were taken aback by the uncanny clip.

One person said: “I swear the first few seconds had me, the voice is so similar.”

Another wrote: “This is the closest we will get to hearing Messi speaking English.”

A third person said: “I thought it was really him until I read your caption, tech is amazing.

A fourth said: “I don't know how I feel about this.”

In an interview with journalist Guillem Balague, Messi admitted to learning English. He said, back in 2021 via The Sun: "I've been learning English for a year and a half but when you're there in England, you get to learn it through necessity. I understand it, but I don't speak it."