Euphoria, delirium: How Kerala celebrated Messi's World Cup win

There were celebrations on the streets of several towns, cities and villages of the southern state as Argentina overcame France to lift the World Cup

Screams of joy, bursting of firecrackers, shouts of 'Messi', blowing of trumpets and horns were how thousands of Malayalees across Kerala celebrated Argentina's penalty shootout win over France in the 2022 football World Cup final on Sunday night.

"We said we (Argentina) will win. Argentina created history. Messi ki jai," jubilant fans were shown shouting in various TV channels.

Some others said, "Neymar came, Ronaldo came, but it was Messi who walked away with the cup."

In a Facebook post, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan congratulated Argentina for the World Cup victory.

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"Congratulations to Argentina who won the football World Cup. Lionel Messi led Argentina to victory -- the most precious achievement of his career," Vijayan said.

There were celebrations on the streets of several towns, cities and villages of the southern state as the South American team defeated France in the penalty shootout after 120 minutes of gameplay resulted in a 3-3 scorecard.

"Vamos," fans, donning the Argentina jersey, were seen shouting as they jumped up and down and danced around with each other unable to contain their joy.

Be it the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram or the port city of Kochi or Malappuram in the north of Kerala, similar celebrations by fans of the South American team and Lionel Messi could be seen.

Old and young, small children and women, soccer fans were out celebrating Argentina's win by dancing on the streets, blowing loud horns and bursting firecrackers.

Some were too excited to even answer reporters' queries on how they were feeling and just responded with screams and incoherent shouts.