Altered Image Peddled as Footballer Lionel Messi Carrying Israel's National Flag

We found that the image has been altered to add the Israeli national flag in Lionel Messi's hands.

Fact-Check | This image of footballer Lionel Messi has been altered.

(Photo: Instagram/Altered by The Quint)

An image showing footballer Lionel Messi carrying the Israeli national flag is going viral on the internet with users insinuating that he has expressed his support for the country.

What are users saying?: Those sharing the image have posted it with a caption that said, "God bless Leo Messi, we love you."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(More archives to similar claims can be found here and here.)

What is the truth?: This image of Messi has been altered to add the Israeli national flag. The original one shows him carrying a bag in his hands.

How did we find that out?: We went through Messi's Instagram profile to check if he had posted any such image in support of Israel. However, we could not find anything.

• Following this, we performed a reverse image search and came across a similar image uploaded on a verified Facebook page named 'Icons.com'.

• The image was uploaded on 3 October with a caption that said, "@leomessi with Icons.com. The exclusive home of Official Messi Signed Merchandise."

Comparing both images: A comparison between both the images showed that the viral image has been edited to add the Israeli national flag instead of a bag.

On comparing both images, we found several similarities.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)

Conclusion: It is clear that an altered image is being shared to falsely claim that footballer Lionel Messi was seen carrying an Israeli flag.

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