Lionel Messi’s much-awaited ‘GOAT Tour to India 2025’ will now include Hyderabad after the cancellation of the Kochi leg, ensuring that the southern region does not miss out on witnessing the Argentine football icon in action.
Hyderabad stop was added after cancellation of Argentina’s proposed friendly in Keralawhich was initially announced by Kerala Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman on 17 November.
“Now we are covering the south as well. It will be a tribute to millions of football fans in South India,” Satadru Dutta, the sole organizer of the ‘GOAT Tour to India 2025’, told PTI on Saturday. “This covers every part of India. The West is covered by Mumbai, the East by Kolkata, the North by Delhi. There is a huge Messi fan base in Chennai, Kerala and Hyderabad.”
The addition of Hyderabad means that the tour will now cover all four regions – Kolkata (East), Hyderabad (South), Mumbai (West) and New Delhi (North) – making it one of the most extensive sports tours ever held in India.
Dutta said that Hyderabad was chosen to ensure that fans in the south were not deprived after the Kerala event was cancelled. “I wanted to make it an all-India event and now that the Kerala event is cancelled, people down south are ready to see Messi,” he said.
He added that the Hyderabad leg will be a grand celebration that will include a celebrity football match, a musical programme, a ceremonial function and a football clinic. “It will be an extension of the GOAT Cup as there will be a celebrity match, football clinic, felicitations, music programme. All the superstars of the south will participate,” said Dutta.
According to Dutta, Messi will arrive in India around midnight on December 12 or early December 13 after a brief stopover in Dubai. The tour will begin in Kolkata on December 13, followed by Hyderabad the same evening, then Mumbai on December 14 and ending in New Delhi on December 15, where Messi is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He confirmed that the event in Hyderabad will be held at either the Gachibowli Stadium or the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, with ticket sales going on within a week.
Messi will be joined by Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul, both of whom have confirmed their participation.
Tickets were already in high demand, with Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium sold out and Kolkata and Delhi nearing capacity, Dutta said.
“It will be huge. The energy in Hyderabad is special and when all the southern stars come together, it will be one of the most memorable parts of the tour,” he added.
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Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
November 1, 2025
