Patagonia’s Monument Becomes the Tallest Messi Statue Yet

 

Lionel Messi was honored with an 85-foot statue in a rural town in Patagonia

Cutral Có isn’t a town that usually makes global headlines. Known for oil production rather than Patagonia’s famous lakes and mountains, it’s stayed out of the tourism spotlight. That changed on June 16.

The day Argentina kicked off its World Cup campaign, Cutral Có unveiled a statue that immediately put it on the map. Since then, visitor traffic to the town has surged.

The 85-foot sculpture was created by 61-year-old local artist Aldo Beroisa. Known for massive dinosaurs and monuments to Argentina’s independence heroes, Beroisa says this project carried different weight. 

“He is Argentina’s natural ambassador. For me, it was very important, not only as an artist but as an Argentine,” Beroisa told The Associated Press.

The statue took 18 months to complete. It captures one of Messi’s most emotional moments: falling to his knees on the Lusail Stadium grass in Qatar after Gonzalo Montiel’s penalty sealed Argentina’s 4-2 shootout win over France. The sculpture shows Messi gripping the Argentina jersey in one hand and pointing skyward with the other — his signature tribute to his late grandmother.

The World Cup tributes don’t end in Patagonia. In a Buenos Aires suburb, artist Leonel García spent 18 days painting a 20x18-foot mural of Messi on a parking lot wall. More than 1,300 fans traveled from nearby towns to add their names beside it.

Messi responded with a video message to the creators: “Crazy... thank you very much to all of you, to the people who supported it, who came by, and who keep coming by.”

García, inspired by Messi’s relaxed expression during a post-Qatar friendly, sees the mural as more than paint on a wall. 

“This is a mural that I didn’t make by myself. Beyond the fact that I painted it, it was made by more than 1,300 people,” he said. “Messi brings joy to the country... Messi unites everyone... and the mural does that too, because people from everywhere come together here, from every social class and every political sector.”