🇳🇬 🗣️John Obi Mikel: "I will never forget what happened after the U-20 World Cup final against Argentina. Messi won the Golden Ball, and I won the Silver Ball, but I felt I deserved the Golden Ball. I approached him and said in Spanish, 'You stole the Golden Ball from me. I was better.'
Messi, with his characteristic humility, smiled and replied, 'It wasn't my decision; it was the committee's. But what you've done for your country is incredible.!' Later, when we crossed paths near the locker rooms, he offered to swap awards: 'If you want, take my Golden Ball and give me the Silver.' I laughed and said, 'I can't; you deserve it. I was just frustrated. Thank you for being so kind!'
Years later, we met again at the 2018 World Cup.
Messi greeted me, 'Hello, golden boy. I still have the photo from the awards ceremony! That's when I told him, 'Today I know you truly deserved that award. You the best Leo.🐐
🚨 BREAKING: Lionel Messi has been named the Best Player of the 2026 FIFA World Cup by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS). 🐐🏆🇦🇷
🚨 Zlatan Ibrahimović on Lionel Messi not winning the World Cup Golden Ball:
🗣️: “What else did Messi have to do to win it? I genuinely don’t understand the criteria anymore. If you look back at 2018, Luka Modrić won the Golden Ball without winning the World Cup. So what changed now?
“Messi carried Argentina throughout the tournament, delivered when it mattered most, and was once again the player everyone feared. If that wasn’t enough, then tell me what is.
“It feels like the standards are always different when it comes to Messi. Every other player gets judged one way, but with him, people suddenly move the goalposts. It’s always against Messi.
“I’m happy for Rodri, but from a football perspective, I don’t think anyone had a stronger case than Messi.”
🚨Lionel Messi on Jude Bellingham
🗣️ “Jude Bellingham is a great player one of the players at Madrid whose style of play I really admire. He’s very talented. Yesterday during the match, he was completely focused on getting the job done.
He played well, dominated certain moments, and even gave me a tough time. At one point he said something in English i barely understood it, but I could tell it was disrespectful so I just nodded my head and keep it moving because he’s just a kid.
I understand that the tension was high and everyone was playing like their lives depended on it, but even then, you have to show respect after the game.
I saw a clip of him slapping one of our players, and that was very bad to see. He needs to change that attitude. He’s still a young boy, still growing, and he has a lot ahead of him in his career. I wish him all the success in their match against France for third place.”
🚨Reporter- "Must have hurt losing after being 2-0 up?"
🗣️Mo Salah- "Well there's no shame in losing to the greatest player of all time, what he did today was incredible, he showed that he is still the best player in the world at 39. It was an honour to share the pitch with him"
🚨 Reporter- "Congratulations Harry! You were the oldest English player on the pitch and also the best"
🗣️ Harry Kane- "Well, Lionel Messi is still the best in the world at 39, what excuse do i have? (LAUGHS)"
Don't let the FIFA WC distract u from the fact that Indias full strength team was just absolutely hammered by Irelands C Team
One of the greatest upsets in cricket history