‘Respect Mexico’: Canelo Reacts To Lionel Messi ‘Kicking’ Mexican Jersey

Many of us shed tears after Saturday’s Mexico vs. Argentina World Cup game, which ended with a 2-0 win for Argentina. Lionel Messi’s first goal was already devastating enough, followed by Enzo Fernandez’s goal by the end.

Mexicanos everywhere were heartbroken — with Messi allegedly doing something afterwards that caused even more fury. Particularly in the eyes of legendary Mexican boxer Canelo Álvarez.

Messi’s questionable act after winning the game

As shown in a recent TikTok video posted by @netordgz, the Argentine team celebrated their win after the game in the locker room. The video shows the team cheering and chanting, which is a pretty usual reaction to winning a World Cup game. However, Messi did something that has everyone scratching their heads. 

By the end of the video, you can see Lionel Messi kick a Mexican jersey on the floor. While it seems like the Argentine player was kicking off his shoes, many are asking why he kicked the jersey, too. Another question: why was the jersey on the floor in the first place?

Canelo’s reaction to Messi kicking the jersey

As you can expect, many people are extremely angry about the video, and see it as a sign of disrespect to Mexico. While celebrating a win is common for every country, leaving an opposing team’s jersey on the floor isn’t. Even worse? Kicking a jersey, even if it was an accident. 

Canelo took to Twitter to hash out his anger about the video, asking his followers, “Did you see Messi cleaning the floor with our jersey and flag?”

The boxer later tweeted that Messi should “pray to God he doesn’t find him,” and continued to talk to his followers about how wrong it was.

Canelo explained, “Just like I respect Argentina, [they] have to respect Mexico!! I’m not talking about Argentina the country.” He continued, “I’m talking about Messi because of the bulls*** he did.”

The Guadalajara-born boxer later tweeted, “One thing is for them to be better than us in football, another thing is respect.” And being the G.O.A.T., he also said, “He who doesn’t defend his country is a coward… Viva Mexico cabr*nes.”

While some people assert Canelo “has never been in a locker room after a soccer game” so he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, others disagree. As one person tweeted, “[The jersey] was on the ground and it very well could have been an accident, but it’s possible it wasn’t.” They continued, “We have yet to hear an explanation or an apology [from Messi].”