Lionel Messi just got a new 85-foot statue. While it is not the only structure built in honor of the Argentine soccer legend, it is for sure the most talked-about.
Unveiled in the small town of Cutral Có, Argentina, in the Patagonia region, the player’s latest statue arrives at the same time Messi returns to the international stage for the 2026 FIFA World Cup—as well as his 39th birthday on June 24.
Despite being among the largest sculptures in his honor—weighing around 60 tons and taking 18 months to craft—it’s not the size that’s making headlines, but rather the player’s stance.
Constructed to mirror Messi’s iconic pose during his 2022 World Cup victory over France, the structure shows Messi kneeling and holding one hand to his chest and jersey, with the other hand raised in the air in triumph.
While the pose might have made sense in theory—immortalizing the moment of a historic win—the execution has led the larger-than-life sculpture to appear to be not safe for work (NSFW viewing).
Blue paint was used to mark the stripes in Argentina’s jersey, and black paint for Messi’s name and number 10. But because the rest of the statue is painted white, it creates the illusion that he is not wearing shorts.
To add insult to injury, the sculpture also includes a copy of the World Cup trophy, placed directly between the soccer star’s legs, leaving little to the imagination.
As soon as images of the sculpture hit the internet, social media users were quick to call out the suggestive appearance.
“We need to talk about the position of that trophy …” a user said on X.
Another added: “He looks like he isn’t wearing any pants at all.”
Others resorted to questioning the intentions of the statue. “I’m guessing they knew what they were doing with the placement of that ‘trophy’” one person noted.
According to The Associated Press, the designer of the sculpture is Aldo Beroisa. In an Instagram post by an account that appears to be from Beroisa, an edited caption explained that the statue is unfinished.
“Due to the limited time with which the work was requested, we worked tirelessly day and night to present the statue on the scheduled date. However, its completion with all the details was not possible within the time frame,” the caption reads.
A history of Messi mishaps
The viral statue is just the latest in a series of unfortunate monument mishaps for the player.
In 2017, a Messi statue in Buenos Aires was vandalized—decapitated and left behind without limbs. Recently, a 70-foot statue of the Argentinian player in Kolkata, India, was taken down from its site due to safety concerns related to strong winds.
But Messi is not the only victim of bad statues. Notably, a 2017 bust of Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo went viral and was widely panned after being inaugurated at an airport named after him in Madeira, Portugal.
Still, some commenters think Messi might take home the trophy for worst statue.
As one X user put it: “Finally, Messi has his counterpart to Ronaldo’s statue.”