A 26-meter-tall statue of Lionel Messi now looms over the outskirts of Cutral Co, a remote town in Patagonia, turning devotion into public spectacle during the 2026 World Cup. Built from 70 tons of steel and iron, the figure was inaugurated on June 16 during Argentina’s World Cup debut, when the team beat Algeria after Messi scored three goals. Local authorities and the sculptor behind it say it is the largest monument ever dedicated to the captain, a reminder of how institutions and local power can mobilize massive resources around a single national icon while ordinary people are left to admire from below.
Who Gets Built Into History
The statue depicts Messi kneeling with the World Cup trophy he won in 2022 between his legs and one arm raised, as if greeting motorists traveling along Route 22. It also shows him falling to his knees on the grass at Lusail Stadium in Qatar during the 2022 World Cup final after Gonzalo Montiel sealed Argentina’s 4-2 shootout victory over France and crowned the country world champion. Another detail shows the captain clutching Argentina’s jersey with one hand and pointing to the sky with his index finger, in tribute to his late grandmother.
Aldo Beroisa, 61, who designed the monument, said, “He is Argentina’s natural ambassador. For me, it was very important, not only as an artist but as an Argentine.” Beroisa has also designed giant dinosaurs and monuments to his country’s independence heroes in Cutral Co, an oil-producing town that has never attracted nearly as much attention as other Patagonian communities surrounded by picturesque lakes and mountains. Now, the town is filling up with admirers who want to see the statue of the soccer player who has scored 18 goals since making his World Cup debut in 2006.
The Crowd Builds the Myth
The monument took 18 months to complete, and the scale alone tells the story of how public space gets claimed for celebrity worship. Messi, who turns 39 on Wednesday, achieved the record as the tournament’s top scorer this week after netting both goals in Argentina’s 2-0 victory over Austria. The tribute is not just a sculpture; it is a piece of state-adjacent pageantry, planted where motorists can’t miss it, a giant reminder of who gets elevated and who gets to watch.
The same machinery of devotion appears in Berazategui, a Buenos Aires suburb where a mural of Messi has become another site of organized admiration. The mural is about six meters wide and 5.5 meters high, and the player’s smiling face is surrounded by the names of hundreds of his admirers. Messi noticed it and responded in a video sent to the creators: “Crazy ... thank you very much to all of you, to the people who supported it, who came by, and who keep coming by.”
Creator Leonel García, 32, said, “This is a mural that I didn’t make by myself. Beyond the fact that I painted it, it was made by more than 1,300 people,” recalling those who traveled to Berazategui from different towns to write down their names in the mural. The mural was painted in 18 days, with García collaborating with Federico Merodo, the owner of the parking lot where the wall that served as the canvas was built.
What They Call Unity
García said the hyperrealistic portrait was a huge challenge because it depicts one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. The image is inspired by a gesture Messi made during a friendly match after Argentina’s triumph in Qatar, when he appeared relaxed and seemed to be enjoying the game. García said, “Messi brings joy to the country. The times we’re living through in Argentina may not be very good for some people, but Messi unites everyone ... and the mural does that too, because people from everywhere come together here, from every social class and every political sector.”
That claim of unity sits beside the facts of who organized the tribute, who owns the space, and who gets to define the public meaning of the wall and the statue. The mural was made with the participation of more than 1,300 people, while the statue was built from 70 tons of steel and iron and promoted by local authorities as the largest monument ever dedicated to Messi. In both cases, admiration becomes a public project, and public space becomes a stage for hierarchy, spectacle, and the careful management of national feeling around a single figure.