The highly anticipated GOAT India Tour 2025 has officially commenced, as football icon Lionel Messi arrived in Kolkata in the early hours of today, Saturday, December 13, 2025. His arrival, his first in India in 14 years, immediately set off scenes of intense fan frenzy in the football-mad city.
Arrival and Immediate Plans
- Mid-Night Arrival: Messi, accompanied by his long-time teammate Luis Suárez and Argentina’s World Cup winner Rodrigo De Paul, landed at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport around 1:30 AM IST.
- Fan Frenzy: Despite the late hour, thousands of fans gathered at the airport and outside his hotel, chanting his name and waving Argentinian flags, cementing the city’s status as the “Mecca of Indian football.”
- Packed Kolkata Schedule: The Argentine superstar has a whirlwind, single-day schedule in Kolkata, the first of four cities on the tour (Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and New Delhi).
Key Events on Day 1 (Kolkata & Hyderabad)
The Kolkata leg of the tour, centered at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium), will feature both public and private events:
- Morning Engagements: Messi will attend a closed-door sponsors’ meet-and-greet, followed by the virtual inauguration of a 70-foot statue of himself erected in Lake Town.
- Salt Lake Stadium Program: The main event at the stadium will feature a special exhibition match between two local teams, interactions with young footballers for a “Master Class with Messi,” and a grand felicitation ceremony.
- High-Profile Meetings: Messi is scheduled to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly. Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is also expected to attend the event.
- Hyderabad Transit: Messi will depart Kolkata at 2:00 PM today and head to Hyderabad. The evening will feature a 7v7 exhibition football match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, which is expected to include Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
The GOAT India Tour will conclude on Monday in New Delhi, where Messi is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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