Lionel Messi: ‘I was only World Cup winner who didn’t get recognition from my club’

Lionel Messi has taken a swipe at his former football club, Paris St Germain, claiming that the French club did not give him recognition after he returned from winning the FIFA World Cup with Argentina.

Messi left the Paris club in the summer transfer window to move to USA, where he now plays for Inter Miami. Messi played for the French club from 2021 to 2023.

Currently recovering from an injury that made him leave the pitch before half-time in Miami’s last match, the Argentine superstar sat down for an interview with a Spanish livestreaming YouTube channel, where he discussed his stint with PSG, particularly after he helped Argentine defeat France in the World Cup final.

“I was the only player on the entire Argentine team that his club didn’t recognise. But that’s okay,” said Messi in an interview with OLGA en Vivo, before adding: “But it is also understandable that I was in the country against which we had won the final and prevented them from winning the World Cup again. The truth is, I had a nice relationship with him (France star Kylian Mbappe) and with everyone else there.”

Before he left the club, there were terse moments when PSG fans booed him and cheered his teammate Mbappe.

“I always say things happen for a reason,” Messi said. “It wasn’t always good, but I won the World Cup while there.”

In the interview, Messi also spoke of his chances of playing in the next FIFA World Cup.

“I want to arrive to the next Copa America in good condition then I will see depending on how I am. I’m not thinking about the next World Cup yet. The years have passed and we have to see how I feel, I will see it day by day,” Messi added.

Over the course of his career, Messi has won the Ballon d’Or a record seven times. He also set