Lionel Messi's tour of India concluded in New Delhi on Monday, December 15. Messi addressed the audience at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and shared a message of love to the fans.
After a whirlwind visit to four cities, Messi brought the much-publicised GOAT Tour to a close with a brief stop in the national capital. In the final moments of the tour, the Argentine icon addressed his fans and expressed his gratitude to India for its warm hospitality. Speaking in Spanish, Messi said that he hoped to return to India again in the future, ideally to play a match in front of Indian supporters.
Messi arrived in India in the early hours of Saturday, December 13. During his stay, he visited Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and New Delhi, attending a combination of public appearances and closed-door events. On Monday, he visited the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, where he met ICC president Jay Shah, who presented him with a ticket for the India vs USA match at the 2026 T20 World Cup.
As throughout the tour, Messi was accompanied by his Argentina teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul. The trio received a warm welcome from an enthusiastic crowd in Delhi, which remained patient and cheerful despite long delays in the programme.
During his brief appearance at the stadium, Messi thanked the Indian fans and said that while he had always known about the admiration he enjoyed in the country, witnessing it firsthand made the experience even more special. He added that although the tour was short, it was intense and unforgettable.
“I just want to thank everyone for the love and affection during these days in India. It was truly a beautiful experience for us to be able to share it,” Messi said.
“And although it was short and intense, it was wonderful to receive all this love that I knew existed, but experiencing it directly was amazing. It was a crazy experience, everything they did for us during these days. We carry all this love with us, and we will definitely return, hopefully one day to play a match or on another occasion. We will certainly return to visit India. Thank you very much,” the legendary Argentine concluded.
Messi is expected to fly to Ahmedabad later tonight, where he will spend the night at Anant Ambani’s Vantara facility.
Baffaboriello
93
Ronaldo fans will want to convince you and make you believe all of this at the same time 🤣 Assists are useless… yet they cry every match that Ronaldo’s teammates don’t pass him the ball to score. Ronaldo’s assist numbers are “reduced”, but he can go two months playing matches without providing a single assist and somehow that’s normal. Scoring in the Saudi Pro League is much harder than scoring in La Liga 🤣🤣 “Pre-assist” was supposedly invented in the MLS solely because of Messi, and they claim those pre-assists are counted as actual assists that’s why Messi’s assist numbers are “inflated”. Messi is called Eibarman because he scored many goals against Eibar. Meanwhile, he has scored more goals against Madrid than against Eibar, and Eibar aren’t even top 10 of Messi’s favorite opponents but Madrid are 6th. Ballon d’Or has “lost its credibility”… but they still desperately want their favorite players to win it. Ronaldo is “hated by the world” and the system is against him yet they also claim he owns the streets. Is the street not part of the world? Scoring a bicycle kick is better than winning a trophy. All MLS trophies are “unofficial”. The only “official” ones are the trophies Messi hasn’t won 🤣 The World Cup is just a 6–7 game tournament and Ronaldo doesn’t need it. But somehow, they still dream of a World Cup final: Argentina vs Portugal, Ronaldo scoring a late winner to lift it. Scoring goals that don’t lead to any trophy is more important than actually winning trophies. Ronaldo is the “most complete player” because he can score with his right foot, left foot, head, shoulder, chest, knee… preek 🤣 The mental gymnastics never disappoint.
-Kyle_Tyson-
66
looking forward to that
Davichi
15
That's the real GOAT. Lionel Messi' legacy will last my a long time, because it will be extremely difficult for any footballer to surpass it. Even India knows who the undisputed GOAT is!!!
bishnumo
12
Messi is our legend we are from Qatar and actually our nationality is nepal we are just making one team here in middle east. And our team name is royal fc Qatar...
LesBleusSoumyadeep
7
Thanks for your India visit dear Messi, Suarez and De Paul. Although Kolkata's event was a mess, the other 3 events were top notch and really melted our hearts and emotions. We really wish to see you back again in India in future! All the best wishes for your future career and also wishing you a peaceful warm life ahead. Stay safe and happy journey.