Lionel Messi gives iconic response after Mexican fans taunt him with homophobic slur
Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF waves to fans during warmups. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Argentina football legend Lionel Messi has been taunted with a homophobic slur by Mexican fans: and he didn’t hold back with his response.
Messi played in Inter Miami’s first pre-season game, against Club América, on Saturday (18 January), in front of 46,000 fans at Allegiant Stadium, in Nevada.
The former Barcelona favourite scored an equaliser for his side in the first half, prompting rival supporters to chant “puto Messi”. The slur equates to “f****t” or “male prostitute.”
In response, a smiling Messi held up three fingers to remind the fans that Argentina have won three World Cups to Mexico’s none.
Major League Soccer posted a clip of the moment on X/Twitter the following day and it has accrued 18,000 likes. Many of the comments under the post label Messi as the greatest player of all time.
New Messi celly just dropped 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nHlpF3sD7Q
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) January 19, 2025
In 2018, world governing body FIFA fined Mexico after fans sang the homophobic chant at the World Cup in Russia.
In 2023, LGBTQ+ football groups called for action after a rise in “abusive” homophobic chants at matches Referring to the Chelsea rent boy” chant, a spokesperson for Football v Homophobia said: “The number of incidents, the clearly abusive, hurtful and damaging nature of them, and their vocal intensity within stadiums, should be a cause for concern for the entire footballing community.”
Messi joined Inter Miami, which is part-owned by David Beckham, in 2023, having scored 474 goals in 520 appearances for Spanish giants Barcelona.
Inter won Saturday’s game in a penalty shootout after the game finished 2-2 after 90 minutes.
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