About

Lionel Messi and Gianni Infantino Memes, also known as Lionel Messi and FIFA President Meme, refer to a series of jokes and memes that portray Argentinian football (soccer) star Lionel Messi and FIFA President Gianni Infantino in a romantic relationship or extremely close friendship, usually with heavy exaggeration and absurdity. The memes are based on conspiracy theories that Infantino and FIFA are biased toward Messi and the Argentinian men's national team, rigging matches and tournaments in their favor to help them win.

The memes pairing the two largely began appearing online during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which Argentina won, and became more prominent on social media during the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. The memes are also commonly used alongside the nickname "FIFA Princess."

Origin

Accusations of corruption surrounding Gianni Infantino have circulated online for years since he was named president of FIFA in 2016.^[1] However, conspiracy theories that he showed favoritism toward Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi and the country's national team primarily began spreading online following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after Argentina won the tournament.

For example, on January 18th, 2023, the YouTube channel Football Conspiracy uploaded a video titled "Messi winning the World Cup wasn’t rigged OR was it?" that discussed the rumors of Gianni Infantino and FIFA's alleged favoritism toward Messi and Argentina as claims that the 2022 World Cup was rigged in their favor spread widely online. The video garnered over 8,300 views, 130 likes and 250 comments in three years.

On April 29th, 2024, YouTuber Shanny FC also uploaded a video on the topic, titled "How Messi RIGGED the 2022 World Cup," which received over 38,000 views, 330 likes and 230 comments in two years.

Memes about Gianni Infantino showing favoritism toward Lionel Messi and Argentina appeared online shortly after the 2022 World Cup, with one of the earliest being shared on December 19th, 2022 (the day after Argentina won), by TikTok^[2] user messi2pechohielo2. The post garnered over 5,080 likes and 350 comments in four years.

The meme shows Infantino embracing a FIFA referee with the top caption translating to "Infantino thanking referee Szymon Marciniak after Argentina's crowning moment. Draw your own conclusions." The text on the image macro meme overlaid on the ref and Infantino translates to "Thanks for giving the cup to Argentina. You're welcome, mister."

Spread

Memes about FIFA President Gianni Infantino showing favoritism or being in love with Lionel Messi and Argentina continued to spread over the following months and years as conspiracy theories that the 2022 World Cup was rigged in their favor garnered more attention online.

For instance, on April 11th, 2023, TikTok^[3] user kjufer posted a meme depicting Argentine FIFA referee Facundo Tello, Messi and Infantino with the caption, "Find a better trio," garnering over 350 likes and 120 comments in three years.

On April 29th, 2023, TikToker^[4] noticiasfutbolymas_ shared another meme depicting Infantino in an Argentinian jersey with the caption, "Did you know? Was Infantino rooting for Argentina at the 2014, 2018, and 2022 World Cups? And to think he was the FIFA president," receiving roughly 60 likes and 10 comments in three years.

Leading up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a resurgence in Messi and Infantino memes occurred online as the rumors and jokes continued to spread, especially using AI to depict the two as a couple.

On December 5th, 2025, TikToker^[5] bismarckclass_ uploaded an AI-generated video of Infantino giving Messi backrubs in an intimate setting, garnering over 48,200 likes and 3,290 comments in seven months.

Throughout the 2026 World Cup tournament, memes portraying Messi and Infantino as romantically involved spread widely on social media, particularly after controversial news when the FIFA President said he "suffered" during the Argentina vs. Cape Verde match in the knockout stage.^[6]

🚨 Infantino said he suffered for Argentina today:

FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed that he suffered tonight while following the Argentina match. 🇦🇷

But he quickly realized what he had said, so he backpedaled and added that he is neutral. 🙅🏻‍♂️

Why isn't he sacked…

— The Touchmine | 𝐓 (@TouchmineX) July 4, 2026

On July 4th, 2026, following the match and news, the Instagram^[7] account blancos.pulse shared a parody meme depicting Messi and Infantino embracing on the poster for the film Titanic, receiving over 256,400 likes and 3,800 comments in four days.

The memes and conspiracy theories were further fueled on July 7th, 2026, when Argentina defeated Egypt in the round of 16 with a controversial Video Assistant Referee (VAR) call removing one of Egypt's goals during the game.

That same day, Redditor False_Pie_6647 posted a meme to the /r/memes^[8] subreddit depicting Messi sitting on Infantino's lap wearing a FIFA chain, garnering over 1,000 upvotes and 100 comments before it was removed by moderators.

Also on July 7th, 2026, the Instagram^[9] account segovianonic uploaded an AI-generated video depicting U.S. President Donald Trump, Infantino and Messi that received over 12,600 likes in a day.

On July 8th, 2026, YouTuber^[10] Schtein uploaded a video titled "The Perfect Love Story Doesn’t Exis-" discussing the rumors, memes and Egypt vs. Argentina game, garnering over 48,800 views, 5,100 likes and 660 comments in seven hours.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References