Unseen footage of Lionel Messi’s bizarre World Cup final pep talk goes viral as he tells upset Argentina stars to ‘relax and forget everything’ moments before kick-off

New footage has revealed that Argentina captain Lionel Messi gave an interesting message to his players just before they lost to Spain in the World Cup final.

Spain beat the 2022 world champions 1-0 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, sealing victory thanks to an injury-time goal from Ferran Torres, who dominated possession in one of the most one-sided World Cup finals ever played.

Argentina, who controversially edged out Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland before knocking out England in the semi-finals, were heavily criticized throughout the tournament for their aggressive tackling and dirty tactics, and their World Cup campaign ended in embarrassment as they were dragged into a mass brawl with Spanish players after the final whistle.

After new footage of Messi addressing his players before the final was shared on social media on Monday, speculations that something was wrong in the Argentina camp began to circulate on social media.

In the video, as Messi prepares to lead Argentina while holding his country’s pennant flag, he turns to his players, who look strangely depressed and somber, and says: ‘Come on guys, calm down, guys. Let’s calm down, friends. Let’s just think about playing, let’s stay calm. Let’s forget everything. ‘Let’s think about playing, guys.’

The curious message has left many fans speculating whether the Argentina camp is in the right frame of mind heading into the big game.

Lionel Messi gave an interesting message to Argentine stars before the World Cup final

Argentina’s World Cup final defeat to Spain ended with an embarrassing on-pitch brawl.

Some fans have theorized whether Messi was telling his teammates to forget world football’s negative perception of them throughout the tournament, amid claims that World Cup referees favored Argentina in decisions throughout the knockout stage.

Opposition manager Hossam Hassan, who staged a late 3-2 comeback against Egypt in the last 16, has angrily accused FIFA of rigging the World Cup after a series of controversial refereeing decisions went against his side.

Switzerland were also furious with the officials after their 3-1 quarter-final defeat to Argentina, when striker Breel Embolo was shown a controversial second yellow card following a VAR review.

Other fans suggested Argentina’s stars were emotional at the prospect of playing for the last time at the World Cup with Messi, the 39-year-old all-time great, even though he has not yet officially retired.

Argentina had an embarrassing response to Spain’s celebrations at the final whistle as Leandro Paredes was sent off for choking Eric Garcia and throwing Gavi to the ground in embarrassing scenes.

Thiago Almada was also involved, while Nahuel Molina punched Rodri in the torso as he passed him.

Their emotional manager Lionel Scaloni then left the press conference in tears, saying: ‘We need time to start over and create another group like this. This will be difficult to recreate. ‘It hurts, I’m sorry.’

Responding to Messi’s video on social media, one fan wrote: ‘I know Spain are a quality team but Argentina’s performance really surprised me. They were nothing like the team we knew.

‘There was no intensity, no urgency, no excitement, completely different from the energy they showed in previous matches. Something about this performance felt off. ‘I still can’t explain what I was watching.’

A second fan said in his post: ‘Argentina knew they couldn’t beat Spain, so they were trying to get to penalties.’

A third wrote: ‘Something strange is happening here. Very strange. Lionel’s pep talk, Enzo’s eyes, Licha’s red nose… something VERY strange happened before the finale.

‘Not Messi, not De Paul, not Paredes, not Dibu, NO ONE posts anything on social media. Minimally weird.”

Another conspiracy theorist added: ‘They went completely berserk off the bus in the Qatar final smashing everything. Something happened, there was an argument with Scaloni, Tapia said something to them, FIFA had sanctions, I don’t know.

‘They were worn out physically and mentally. ‘I insist, something really suspicious happened there and we will find out in 40 years.’

Messi burst into tears at the end of the match and refused to watch Spain lift the World Cup trophy.

Fans didn’t hesitate to offer their speculative theories on social media in response to the video

Argentina also made headlines after their World Cup final defeat for refusing to watch Spain lift the trophy.

The defeated finalists received their silver medals on the MetLife Stadium stage from FIFA president Gianni Infantino and US President Donald Trump, but decided not to watch Spain lift the trophy, as is customary in the finals of major tournaments.

Instead, the Argentine players, coaching staff and technical staff walked towards the end of the field, where most of the fans were, and spent time staring at the crowd with bright eyes.