News of Bahrain
Sports19 June 20262 min read

Lula jokes he is thinking of ‘signing Messi’ for Brazil

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suggested Wednesday that Brazil should hire Argentina's Lionel Messi, when asked about his country's performance in the World Cup so far. The five-time world champions were held to a 1-1 draw b

Editorial Team Legacy

Published 19 June 2026, 8:00 · Updated 18:15

Link copied
Lula jokes he is thinking of ‘signing Messi’ for Brazil

AFP | Rio de Janeiro

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suggested Wednesday that Brazil should hire Argentina’s Lionel Messi, when asked about his country’s performance in the World Cup so far.

The five-time world champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Morocco in their opening match, which highlighted several frailties in their game.

Brazil’s fiercest football rivals Argentina had a far better time, with Messi scoring three goals against Algeria on Tuesday.

“I was thinking about signing Messi to play for Brazil,” Lula said, laughing, when journalists asked him about his country’s showing at the World Cup.

However, he noted it wasn’t a “big deal” for Brazil to draw with Morocco, which he said was its strongest opponent in the group.

“They say that whenever Brazil is heavily doubted, they win the World Cup... let’s see.”

Brazil faces Haiti on Friday. All eyes are on Neymar, 34, who was included on the team after a near three-year absence due to a mixture of injuries and poor form.

Join the conversation

Sign in to leave a comment. Every comment is reviewed before it goes live.

No comments yet. Start the conversation.