Several media organisations such as Times Now, NDTV, The Indian Express, Republic World, among others, have shared a video of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi hugging a woman to claim that it shows the former hugging his mother after Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup, defeating France in the penalties on Sunday, 18 December.
The match saw some extra-time goals, a hattrick after 56 years, and managed to keep fans on their feet. Messi emerged as the hero for his team's victory.
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An archive of the article can be found here.
(Source: Times Now website/Screenshot)
According to pictures uploaded by Reuters and Getty Images, Celia Maria Cuccittini, Messi's mother, was seen wearing a violet jersey and not Argentina's official jersey.
Moreover, the woman's hair colour and arm tattoo as seen in the viral video did not match with Cuccittini's pictures from the match.
How did we find out?:
We found that several users had pointed out that the woman seen in the video is not Messi's mother.
A keyword search on Getty Images led us to Cuccittini's pictures from the match uploaded on 18 December.
On comparing her picture with the image of the woman in the video, we found certain details did not match, such as the colour of the jersey and the tattoo on the arm.
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The colours of the t-shirts are different.
(Source: Getty Images website/ Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)
Further, we found a picture on Reuters which showed Messi hugging his mother and greeting his other fans and family members.
The image's caption said, "Argentina's Lionel Messi hugs his mother Celia Maria Cuccittini after winning the World Cup."
Who is the woman in the video?:
Reports in the Argentine media identified the woman as the head cook of the Argentina national team, Antonia Farías. (here and here)
Roy Nemer, an Argentine fan and owner of Mundo Albiceleste, a website reporting on Argentina National Team also clarified on Twitter that the woman was the team's cook.
We looked at Farías' Facebook profile and found multiple photographs of her with the team, including some from the team's win in 2021 Copa América.
We also found a photo on her profile that showed that she had a tattoo in the same place as the person in the viral video.
Conclusion: While we could not independently verify the identity of the woman, it is clear that several media organisations misidentified the woman in the viral video as Messi's mother.
(Editor's note: The copy has been updated to include the identity of the woman.)
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