Messi’s GOAT statue in India to be removed over safety concerns

Al Jazeera · 🇶🇦 public Qatar · May 27, 2026 · 405 words · By AFP

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What to know about Messi’s GOAT statue in India to be removed over safety concerns

Messi’s GOAT statue in India to be removed over safety concerns Statue to honour World Cup winner Lionel Messi, unveiled during his GOAT tour of India, unstable on busy Kolkata road.

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

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Center100%

Right0%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Messi’s GOAT statue in India to be removed over safety concerns Statue to honour World Cup winner Lionel Messi, unveiled during his GOAT tour of India, unstable on busy Kolkata road.

Why it matters

A giant statue of football superstar Lionel Messi erected in India to mark his visit last year is “swaying in the wind” and will be removed, a lawmaker has said.

Common ground

Workers have scrambled up the 21-metre (70ft) golden-coloured statue in the eastern city of Kolkata in West Bengal, throwing ropes around its shoulders to secure it.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Messi’s GOAT statue in India to be removed over safety concerns?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Argentina is set to begin its World Cup campaign on June 16 against Algeria in Kansas City?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/5/27/messis-goat-statue-in-india-to-be-rem…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6

verified Verified By Reference 2

help Insufficient Evidence 1

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Claim 1: “Argentina is set to begin its World Cup campaign on June 16 against Algeria in Kansas City.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including 'Visit KC' and other news reports, confirm Argentina's World Cup match against Algeria on June 16, 2026, in Kansas City.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Tuesday, June 16 | Argentina vs. Algeria, 8 p.m. · Saturday, June 20 | Ecuador vs. Curaçao, 7 p.m. · Thursday, June 25 | Tunisia vs. Netherlands, 6 p.m. · Saturday ...
https://www.visitkc.com/events/argentina-vs-algeria/

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web search NEUTRAL — May 16, 2026 ... On June 16, Argentina opens its FIFA World Cup 2026™ campaign against Algeria in Kansas City's first match of the tournament. Who's ...
https://www.instagram.com/p/DYZrbT6liOT/

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web search NEUTRAL — 5 days ago ... The first of six FIFA World Cup 26 games in Kansas City pits Lionel Messi and the reigning champions, Argentina, against Algeria. The Group J ...
https://www.facebook.com/kmbc9/posts/argentina-has-officiall…

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Claim 2: “Workers have scrambled up the 21-metre (70ft) golden-coloured statue in the eastern city of Kolkata in West Bengal”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the statue was 21-metres (70-foot) and located in Kolkata, West Bengal.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Aroop Biswas (born 5 October 1964) is an Indian politician who served as the minister for Power, and Housing in the Government of West Bengal. He is a member of the National Working Committee of All I…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aroop_Biswas

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lionel Messi's G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025 was a promotional and fan engagement tour by Argentine footballer Lionel Messi across India during December 2025. As a celebration of Messi's status among the g…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi's_2025_tour_of_In…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — West Bengal is a state in the eastern part of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal. It had a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of 88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi) as of 2011. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bengal

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “A giant statue of football superstar Lionel Messi erected in India to mark his visit last year is “swaying in the wind” and will be removed”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources report that a giant statue of Lionel Messi in Kolkata was dismantled/removed due to safety concerns and instability (swaying).

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both the Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. W…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Messi–Ronaldo rivalry, or Ronaldo–Messi rivalry, is a sporting rivalry in football propelled by the media and fans that involves Argentine footballer Lionel Messi and Portuguese footballer Cristia…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messi–Ronaldo_rivalry

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 4: “The sculpture showing the 38-year-old Argentina and Inter Miami player raising the World Cup trophy was unveiled during Messi’s GOAT Tour (Greatest of all Time Tour) of India in December.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia explicitly confirms the 'G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025' occurred in December 2025, and web sources confirm the statue depicted him raising the World Cup trophy.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lionel Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both the Major League Soccer club Inter Miami and the Argentina national team. His individual achievements …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Career_of_Lionel_Messi

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Argentine footballer Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, has been awarded throughout his career a total of eight Ballon d'Or awards and three The Best FIFA Men's …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_career_achievements_by…

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 5: “He remains the side’s talisman for the defence of the title they won in Qatar four years ago.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and other authoritative sources confirm Argentina won the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

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web search NEUTRAL — Argentina is the current FIFA World Cup champion, having won the most recent World Cup in 2022.Main article: History of the Argentina national football team. Further information: Football in Argentina…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina_national_football_te…

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web search NEUTRAL — Argentina won the most recent World Cup in 2022, defeating France in a thrilling final.FIFA World Cup Champions Through History. From Uruguay's inaugural victory in 1930 to Argentina's triumph in 2022…
https://www.topendsports.com/events/worldcupsoccer/winners.h…

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web search NEUTRAL — Watch highlights of Argentina v France's Final at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhEWqfP6V_w

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Claim 6: “The statue of the Argentine football legend in the city of Kolkata was found unsafe by engineers of the West Bengal government”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that engineers of the West Bengal government found the statue unsafe, leading to its removal.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “India – a nation of 1.4 billion – is a cricket powerhouse, but struggles on the football pitch and is 142nd on the FIFA rankings.”

CORROBORATED

Wikipedia confirms India's population scale, and a news report from November 2025 specifically mentions India moving to the 142nd position in FIFA rankings.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — India, officially the Republic of India, [j][19] is a country in South Asia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 15, 2023 ... ranking: 47) This was a real surprise because the Israeli side hasn't been this low in a long while. As you can see from their average ranking ...
https://www.facebook.com/ZambianFootballWithSydeneyChandaMwe…

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web search NEUTRAL — Nov 19, 2025 ... Fifa Struggling to sell Fifa World Cup 2026 rights to nearly 2.9 billion population countries India and China. #FifaWorldCup #IndianFootball.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRQrpujkkJa/?hl=en

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Claim 8: “West Bengal state legislator Sharadwat Mukherjee said it was no longer safe.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple news sources (Taipei Times, other web results) quote West Bengal legislator Sharadwat Mukherjee stating the statue was unsafe.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — May 27, 2026 · “The statue of the Argentine football legend in the city of Kolkata was found unsafe by engineers of the West Bengal government,” he told the ...
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/5/27/messis-goat-statu…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 4 days ago · West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee apologised for the mismanagement, calling the incident a “black day for Kolkata” and expressing ...
https://www.facebook.com/ANINEWS.IN/posts/watch-lionel-messi…

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web search NEUTRAL — May 28, 2026 · “The statue of the Argentine football legend in the city of Kolkata was found unsafe by engineers of the West Bengal Government,” he said. “We ...
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2026/05/28/2…

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Claim 9: “Football, however, is the country’s second favourite sport, according to research by data company Nielsen released on Wednesday.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm or deny the specific Nielsen research claim regarding football being the second favorite sport in India.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.