By the time Argentina’s players emerged from the tunnel on Wednesday evening, familiar songs had already begun rolling around the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The crowd came from Buenos Aires and Cordoba, from Rosario and Mendoza.
But they also came with unmistakably different accents from Kolkata and Dhaka, from Kochi and Varanasi, from South Asian immigrant neighbourhoods across the United States.
Every World Cup creates adopted nations. Few have ever been adopted with the devotion that Argentina inspires in South Asia.
The relationship has always seemed improbable. Nearly 16,000 kilometres separate Buenos Aires from Dhaka or Thiruvananthapuram. There is little shared history, little common language and few cultural overlaps.
Yet every four years, countless homes across India and Bangladesh become temporary Argentine territory. Streets fill with blue-and-white flags, children paint their faces, neighbourhoods get together to pray for Diego Maradona and now Lionel Messi.
An Argentina fan spotted atop a traditional fishing boat, gazing toward the Vizhinjam International Sea Port and a massive cutout of the Argentine football icon Lionel Messi, in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, July 12, 2026. The coastal village, known for its football fandom erupted in celebration following the defending champion Argentina’s victory that secured its spot in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinals.
| Photo Credit:
NIRMAL HARINDRAN
The connection has outlived generations.
For many, it began with Diego weaving through England in the summer of 1986, turning football into folklore. For another generation, it arrived through Messi, whose genius travelled effortlessly through the television screens into homes where sleep was willingly sacrificed for matches played in distant time zones.
Among those inside the stadium were a father and son from Varanasi. Vipul, who runs an export business, was a young man when Maradona conquered Mexico.
Like millions across the subcontinent, He found himself bewitched by the No. 10 in the sky-blue shirt and four decades back he had to go on a hunt in Delhi’s Sarojini Market to get a cheap replica of the famous jersey. The shirt has now faded, the hair greyed, but the affection remains.
Football fans click a selfie beside a mural of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi, in Kolkata on Sunday, July 12, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
ANI
“Television was still a novelty in India back then and the 1986 World Cup was perhaps the first time when all of us watched live international football. It almost felt like Maradona was fighting against the entire world and winning. You had to be bewitched by his genius,” Vipul said.
For son Anmol, his Argentina is Messi’s Argentina. The tears in 2014, the Copa America disappointments, the redemption in 2021 and, finally, Qatar in 2022 are his footballing memories.
Now working in the United States, he persuaded his father to make the journey to Atlanta to support the team they love. Together they watched Argentina overturn England to reach another World Cup final.
They are now heading north to New Jersey, hoping to witness Messi lifting another World Cup trophy.
Joy Uthuppu of Koovapady, East Cheranallore, in Kerala, is an ardent Messi and Argentina fan who has painted his house in the colours if the flag.
| Photo Credit:
THULASI KAKKAT
Football offers opportunities for fathers and sons to discover the same love through different heroes. There are many from Dhaka, Chittagong, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, who have made the same journey to follow the blue-and-white in the United States.
Rupak Saha, sporting the blue-and-gold of his beloved East Bengal, was in Atlanta shouting for Messi. “We want Messi to give us another World Cup. We are all here for him,” he said.
The scale of that affection even surprises those inside the dressing room. On the eve of the semifinal, a Bangladeshi journalist asked Lionel Scaloni about the extraordinary support Argentina receives in Bangladesh.
A football enthusiast performs ‘rainbow flick’ near murals of famous footballers including Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazil’s Neymar and Raphinha, Croatia’s Luka Modric and England’s Jude Bellingham during celebrations marking Argentine football star Lionel Messi’s 39th birthday amid the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026, in Kolkata, West Bengal, Wednesday, June 24, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
He admitted that his players remain astonished that people on the other side of the world celebrate victories with the same emotion as families in Argentina.
“They are surprised,” Scaloni said. “Thrilled that a country on the other end of the world supports us, loves us and feels proud wearing our blue-and-white stripes.”
Perhaps that is the greatest compliment any national team can receive.
Argentina has also attracted criticism throughout this tournament. Opponents have questioned refereeing decisions, social media has filled with accusations of favourable treatment, the unfurling of a Falklands banner, repeated confrontation with the referees and opponents have ignited arguments.
Argentina’s Giovani Lo Celso holds a banner with the words “The Malvinas are Argentine”, referring to the Falkland Islands, while teammate Argentina’s Nicolas Otamendi gestures to him, at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Yet those debates have barely dented Argentina’s global appeal.
Inside stadiums across this World Cup, the neutral support often seems to tilt unmistakably towards Argentina. Every Messi touch still draws a collective gasp. Every comeback is celebrated by supporters with no Argentine passport. And among those neutrals, South Asians remain remarkably visible.
Perhaps it is because Argentina has always offered more than victories. Its football has carried romance and suffering in equal measure.
It has produced flawed heroes, impossible dribbles, glorious failures and unforgettable redemption. Maradona gave millions permission to believe that genius could overcome power. Messi showed that perseverance could eventually overcome heartbreak.
For countless supporters in India and Bangladesh, those stories are deeply personal, untouched by the oceans that lie between them.
As Atlanta emptied into the humid Georgia night, Argentine songs once again echoed through the streets. Some voices belonged to people returning home to Buenos Aires. Others would soon begin journeys back to Dhaka, Kolkata, Kochi, Chennai, Delhi or Varanasi.
