This is the second time Lionel Messi will visit India with Argentina national football team
Rumours have been circulating since last year about Lionel Messi’s potential arrival in India in 2025. The Kerala Sports Minister, V Abdurahiman, had claimed on multiple occasions that they were finalizing things with the Argentine Football Association and now we have official confirmation.
The FIFA World Cup 2022 champions Argentina have now confirmed that they will be coming to India later this year. The dates of their arrival have been decided and the national team along with their captain, Lionel Messi, will be staying in India for eight days.
When are Argentina and Lionel Messi coming to Kerala, India?
The dates for the Argentine football team’s arrival on Indian soil have been decided. La Albiceleste will be stepping foot in Kochi on 25th October 2025 and will be staying in the state for a whole week before departing on 2nd November 2025.
Kerala’s sports minister Abdurahiman has also confirmed the same. He said in an event in Kozhikode, “For seven days from October 25 to November 2, Messi will be in Kerala. Apart from the friendly match, he will be on a public dias for twenty minutes to see you all.”
The Argentine Football Association has further added to this announcement saying that they will be playing two international friendlies in their upcoming visit to India. However, it is yet to be decided on whom they will be facing in Kerala.
This will be Lionel Messi’s second visit to India!
The Argentine football team and Lionel Messi have already visited India once previously. The Albiceleste faced Venezuela in the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata as fans thronged the airport, streets, and stadium to see their football icons.
Argentina fielded a strong starting XI which included the likes of Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria, alongside Messi. Nicolas Otamendi got the decisive goal in the game in front of 70,000 spectators as they beat Venezuela 1-0 on the night in Kolkata.
Will Argentina play with their main squad?
The Argentine Football Association has confirmed that they will be in India between 25th October and 2nd November 2025. While they have specifically mentioned that Lionel Messi will be coming to India, it is not known about the other players.
As per FIFA’s calendar, the international breaks this year fall between 6-14th October 2025 and 10-18th November 2025. Hence, Argentina’s visit is outside these international breaks, where the clubs can’t schedule official football games.
Most of the Argentine national team players are currently top of the top five European Leagues. Hence it seems unlikely that their respective clubs will let go of these players outside the international breaks in the midst of the football season.
