As Indian football fans prepare for a historic December, my heart is racing with excitement too. Lionel Messi, the living legend of football, is finally set to return to India with the much-anticipated ‘GOAT Tour of India 2025’ – kicking off in Kolkata on December 12 before traveling to Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and New Delhi. The tour will culminate in an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 15, making this a truly unforgettable chapter for sports in India.
For me, this isn’t just another headline — it feels deeply personal. My love for football truly took shape only recently, during my association as an independent producer and fixer with international sports wire agency sntv.com in India, where covering major football stories revealed the scale, emotion and cultural relevance the sport commands. Being one of the fortunate few to meet and interview Arsène Wenger — the legendary former Arsenal manager who transformed modern football and now, as FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, works to identify and nurture grassroots talent across regions — further deepened my understanding of the game’s global impact. Against that backdrop, the buzz around Lionel Messi’s visit to Mumbai feels especially significant, reflecting how football’s influence in India is no longer peripheral but rapidly becoming part of the country’s mainstream sporting conversation.
For someone who has come to football relatively recently, the magic of Lionel Messi needs no long explanation. Even to a novice, he represents excellence, humility, and an almost unreal consistency that transcends rivalries and debates. The long-running Messi versus Ronaldo conversations may dominate football folklore, but for me, the very mention of Messi’s name attached to India — and now to Mumbai — is enough to sit up and take notice. It carries a quiet pride and an unmistakable thrill.
What makes this moment extraordinary is the possibility of witnessing Messi in Mumbai, a city where sport lives in the bloodstream. The thought of him gracing the iconic Wankhede Stadium on 14 December 2025 feels surreal — a once-unthinkable crossover between global football royalty and one of India’s most storied sporting venues. For someone whose passion for football grew through covering the sport on the ground, this isn’t just an event; it feels like a personal full-circle moment.
Being associated with international sports storytelling has shown me how deeply football resonates with Indian audiences, how quickly the game is finding its voice here, and why moments like Messi’s visit matter far beyond the pitch. This December, his presence in India won’t merely be about goals or glory; it will be about inspiration, memory, and the shared joy that sport uniquely delivers.
As the GOAT Tour of India unfolds from 12 to 15 December 2025, with Mumbai set to host one of its most defining chapters, it promises to be a spectacle that football fans — and even first-time believers like me — will remember for a lifetime. To be part of it, in any capacity, would be nothing short of extraordinary.
