10th June 2023 – (Beijing) Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi arrived in Beijing on Saturday ahead of a friendly match between Argentina and Australia, set to take place on Thursday at the recently rebuilt Workers’ Stadium. A post on the International Football Invitation’s official Weibo social media site announced Messi’s arrival, featuring a video of players disembarking from a plane.
This will be Messi’s seventh visit to China and his first since 2017. Despite the struggles of the Chinese men’s national team, soccer has a massive fan base in the country, and Messi has always received a warm welcome on his previous visits.