Research showed that ‘Messi World Cup’ scored a peak relative interest index of 100 in both the US and global markets across an entire 24-month window prior to the tournament.
A storm was forecast, along with scorching temperatures in Kansas City. But the world’s greatest player barely broke a sweat while World Cup training with the reigning champions.
Lionel Messi did a little shimmy at one point to send a team mate the wrong way. He laughed his way through a game of head tennis and looked relaxed as hundreds of cameras followed his every move.
England legend Paul Gascoigne paid tribute to Messi, and not just his skill but his longevity as a player. He told the Mirror: “I cannot believe he is about to play at his sixth World Cup. That is amazing. But he really looks after himself.”
There was a long line of the world’s media there to see the Argentine superstar. He turns 39 on June 24 and is playing in his sixth World Cup. Organisers reckon around 700,000 fans will visit Kansas, one of the host cities.
It would be fair to say that Messi will be a star attraction for many of them.
A study showed that ‘Messi World Cup’ scored a peak relative interest index of 100 in both the US and global markets across an entire 24-month window prior to the tournament.
Every other player in this study was measured against him. This includes French superstar Kylian Mbappe, who peaked at a Google Trends index of 72 because of an injury scare in February 2026.
Cristiano Ronaldo, confirmed in Portugal’s squad at 41 and playing his last World Cup, peaks at 65.
Christian Pulisic, captain of the US and the most-capped outfield player, had a peak Google Trends index of four prior to the tournament, and his injury in the USA’s impressive 4-1 victory over Paraguay.
Cody C. Jensen, the CEO of Searchbloom, the research experts who conducted the study using Google Trends data across the US market and globally in the two years to May, said the index ‘does not lie’.
Harry Kane came ninth in the table. “Messi does not have a steady baseline. He has valleys and spikes, and the spikes track news cycles with mechanical precision,” Jensen said.
It comes as Argentina’s team bus is led by a cavalcade of police outriders as it travels to training in Kansas.
The motor patrol follows every move of Lionel Messi and his team, who are at the centre of a huge security operation.
Media watching the world champion’s training sessions are asked to park a mile away and take a yellow school bus to their £85m KC training base. “It is a lot of work,” said one security official on duty.