Lionel Messi is a Spider-Man fan: Football legend tracks down Tom Holland's Peter Parker

Lionel Messi, the Argentine football legend and one of the most recognisable human beings on the planet, has a secret identity of his own — he is a devoted Spider-Man fan, and he made sure to track down Tom Holland's version of Peter Parker.

The story, reported by The Indian Express, is the kind of detail that humanises a global icon in an unexpected way. Messi, whose public persona is almost entirely about football, revealing a genuine enthusiasm for one of cinema's most beloved superhero franchises is both surprising and immediately endearing.

Tom Holland has played Peter Parker — the teenage incarnation of Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — across multiple films, most recently in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which became one of the highest-grossing films in history. That Messi specifically sought out Holland's portrayal rather than the broader franchise speaks to a genuine connection with the character as Holland has portrayed him.

For Indian audiences, who are among the most passionate consumers of both international football and Marvel content, the crossover is a moment of pure delight. It also underlines the extraordinary global reach of the MCU — a franchise that counts among its fans not just millions of ordinary moviegoers, but the man many consider the greatest footballer of all time.