An image showing Argentinian soccer legend Lionel Messi with a shopping cart full of guns in a grocery store in the US has gone viral on social media. This comes on the back of Messi deciding to transfer to the American team Inter Miami after his stint with the French club Paris St. Germain.
A Facebook user posted the viral post with a caption: Messi has already adapted the American culture by buying guns just to threaten refs if they refuse to give him penalty.
You can check the post here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral post, and found it to be false.
Running a Reverse Image Search of the viral picture, NM team found a news article in Dailymail.com, dated July 14, 2023, with a title: Spend it like Messi! World’s greatest soccer player and gorgeous family stun shoppers at PUBLIX as they fill up on cereal and treats ahead of his Inter Miami debut.
One of the pictures in the article matches the viral image except for the guns in the shopping cart. Here we can see that his cart is full of carry bags and the picture was taken while he was waiting at the checkout.
Searching further, we came across a video news report in CBS News Miami on July 14, 2023. The report informs that Messi was spotted shopping at South Florida’s Publix ahead of his unveiling by Inter-Miami. Here too, we can see carry bags in his cart and not guns.
We found similar news reports on several other websites, including ESPN Sports, NY Breaking, Palm Beach Post, and USA Today, to name a few.
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the viral post, claiming to show Lionel Messi shopping for guns in an American grocery store, is false.
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