Argentina promised fans in Singapore and India a chance to watch Lionel Messi in person. They didn't show up. Twice.
Back in March 2025, the Argentinian Football Association and HSBC jointly announced exhibition matches in India in October 2025 and Singapore in Q1 2026 — complete with press releases about "exclusive perks," meet-and-greet opportunities, and a "landmark partnership." AFA president Claudio Tapia talked about "international expansion." HSBC talked about bridging banking and sport. Both timelines came and went without a match being played.
Instead of heading to India in October, Argentina flew to the US to play Venezuela and Puerto Rico. A rescheduled Kerala date of November 17, 2025 was quietly pushed to March 2026 — then abandoned entirely, with Argentina hosting Mauritania and Zambia in Buenos Aires instead. The Singapore leg has produced nothing: no fixture, no announcement, no booking at the National Stadium. On HSBC's own Facebook post promoting the deal, a user asked if Argentina were still coming. The reply: "no sound."
Not the first time fans have been left waiting
There's a grim precedent here. Argentina were last in Singapore in 2017, when they beat the hosts 6-0 in a friendly — but without Messi, who had played against Brazil in Australia four days earlier and merely transited through Singapore en route home for his wedding. Fans had paid up to $188 for tickets.
The India situation in December 2025 wasn't much better. Messi did visit Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi for a promotional tour alongside Rodrigo de Paul and Luis Suarez — but it wasn't football. In Kolkata, it descended into chaos: fans stormed the pitch, ripped out seats, hurled them, and vandalized banners after paying up to 12,000 rupees to watch Messi spend 20 minutes surrounded by politicians and celebrities before leaving. "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," as one Singapore fan put it, that keeps not materializing.
What's actually on the calendar
Any realistic window for a rescheduled Asia friendly is essentially closed. Argentina face Honduras and Iceland in the US on June 6 and June 9 before the World Cup kicks off on June 11. After that, the September and November international windows exist on paper — but there is currently no booking at Singapore's National Stadium for either period.
There's also the matter of a lawsuit. VID Music Group has filed claims of fraud and breach of contract against Messi, the AFA, and sports executive Julian Marcos Kapelan. The lawsuit alleges AFA induced VID into contracts "under false pretences" — including breaches related to the October 2025 friendlies and two proposed US matches in June 2026. Messi is accused of negligent misrepresentation. He reportedly watched Argentina's win over Venezuela from a suite at Hard Rock Stadium, then started and scored twice for Inter Miami the next day.
HSBC declined to comment and referred queries to AFA. AFA did not respond over two weeks of follow-up. The Facebook post promoting the "exclusive exhibition match" is still up.
