Argentina captain Lionel Messi carried a “fake” World Cup during the photo he posted on his Instagram account after winning the tournament at France’s expense by penalty kicks at the “Lusail” stadium in the Qatari capital, Doha.
And it became the most liked photo in the history of Instagram, surpassing the famous “egg” photo, and as of this writing, it has 74 million likes.
Two fans of the Argentine national team explained to the newspaper “Clarin” that the trophy that Messi carried on the field was, in fact, a fake.
In accordance with FIFA protocol, the original trophy was retrieved again moments after President Gianni Infantino handed it to the winner for a podium photo.
Paula Zuzulich, an Argentina fan who was in Qatar, told Clarin: “Before the World Cup, we got in touch with someone who could imitate the World Cup. It took six months to implement it. The idea was to convince the players to sign it, but in the end, the trophy went into the pitch several times.
And she continued: First, a member of the Paredes family took it to sign it. The second time it was passed between one player and another to take pictures with it, and finally FIFA security arrived and asked us to verify that it was not the original.
And she concluded: There are some details, marks and inscriptions that are not similar to the original cup, but the difference is small.
And paparazzi captured the moment Di Maria pointed down the replica trophy, laughing with Messi about the misunderstanding.