Messi fandom turns Kolkata blue and white during World Cup run
Kolkata’s Argentina supporters are packing dawn screenings and repainting neighborhoods as Lionel Messi leads another World Cup charge.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Hundreds of football fans in Kolkata gathered before sunrise on July 4 to watch Argentina play Cape Verde in the World Cup, Al Jazeera reported. The scene showed how deeply Lionel Messi and Argentina have gripped one of India’s most football-obsessed cities during what is likely to be Messi’s final World Cup.
About 300 supporters watched the match at Amartya Sen Udyan, a small park used by the Kolkata Argentina Football Fan Club, according to Al Jazeera. The area was covered with Argentina colors, player cutouts and flags, while fans in Messi’s No. 10 shirt waited through rain and extra time before celebrating Lisandro Martinez’s decisive goal.
Al Jazeera reported that supporters quickly turned the celebration into chants of Messi’s name. The 39-year-old Argentina captain has become the central figure in Kolkata’s World Cup mood, even in a tournament that also features Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Manuel Neuer, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and other leading players.
According to Al Jazeera, Messi scored all six of Argentina’s goals in the group stage and remained decisive in later matches against Egypt, Switzerland and England. Argentina’s win over England sent Messi to a second straight World Cup final, AFP reported in a photo caption cited by Al Jazeera.
A city built around football
Kolkata’s attachment to Argentina sits inside a much longer football culture. Al Jazeera described the city as a center of Indian football since the late 19th century, with Mohun Bagan founded in 1889, Mohammedan Sporting in 1891 and East Bengal in 1924.
The city’s local rivalry between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal still draws crowds above 50,000, Kolkata-based football analyst Debanjan Banerjee told Al Jazeera. Banerjee said that rivalry has made football a year-round subject in Kolkata homes and has shaped how many fans discuss politics, history and culture.
India was invited to the 1950 World Cup in Brazil but did not take part, and the country has not qualified since, according to Al Jazeera. That absence has left many Kolkata fans pouring their World Cup loyalty into foreign teams, especially Argentina and Brazil.
From Maradona to Messi
Novelist and football journalist Indrajit Hazra told Al Jazeera that Brazil dominated Kolkata’s football imagination for decades, especially after Pele visited the city in 1977 with the New York Cosmos. Hazra said the 1986 World Cup, widely watched on Indian television, changed loyalties for many fans after Diego Maradona led Argentina to the title.
Messi’s pull has grown since Argentina won the 2022 World Cup, English professor Gourab Goswami told Al Jazeera. Goswami said Messi is now seen less through his Barcelona career and more as the leader of Argentina in blue and white.
Al Jazeera also reported signs of that shift in north Kolkata’s Fakir Chakraborty Lane, known locally as FIFA Lane. The neighborhood has long been associated with Brazil colors during World Cups, but this year also displayed Argentina flags and Messi murals.
Personal devotion
For some fans, Messi fandom has become part of family life. Sapna Patra told Al Jazeera that her husband, tea-shop owner Shib Sankar Patra, felt an even stronger bond with Messi after being chosen by the state government to meet him during a Kolkata visit last year.
The Patra family home in Nawabganj is painted in Argentina colors, and their tea stall flies an Argentina flag, Al Jazeera reported. The family marked Messi’s 39th birthday with an 18kg blue-and-white cake and distributed Argentina jerseys to children.
Messi’s previous Kolkata appearance also showed the risks of that intensity. Reuters, cited by Al Jazeera, photographed clashes between riot police and fans after Messi left a stadium in the city in December 2025.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.