FIFA World Cup 2022 fever grips Kerala

Football fans in the southern Indian state of Kerala have started preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2022 early. In the tiny village of Pullavoor (Kozhikode district), Argentina fans caused a social media storm by putting up a 30-foot-tall cut-out of Messi right in the middle of the Kurungattu Kadavu district.

As a response to the 30-ft Messi cutout installed by Argentina fans in Pullavoor, Brazil fans put out a 40-ft Neymar cut-out. The Messi cutout was featured in international media including Fox Sports. A video had gone viral in which the fans could be seen carrying the cut-out. It was posted on Twitter by the handle @Rlzw4n with a caption, "Behind the Scenes Messi #VamosArgentina."

Onmanorama report said that the cut-out was installed by the Argentina Fans Association of Pullavoor. “We wanted to mark the occasion with something special and who else other than Messi deserves it more,” Ashik Ahamed, a member of the fans association was quoted as saying by Onmanorama.The FIFA World Cup will begin in Qatar on November 20 and during a recent conversation with a journalist, Messi said it would be his last World Cup.