Global football star <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/expo-2020/2021/12/13/star-footballer-lionel-messi-visits-expo-2020-dubai/" target="_blank">Lionel Messi</a> delighted fans after paying a surprise visit to <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/expo-2020/" target="_blank">Expo 2020 Dubai</a> on Monday. The Argentinian great – who was only in action for club side <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/paris-saint-germain/" target="_blank">Paris St Germain</a> on Sunday evening – swapped the pitch for the pavilions of the sprawling Dubai South site. Messi, who recently clinched a record-breaking seventh <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/2021/11/29/messis-enduring-brilliance-rewarded-with-another-ballon-dor/" target="_blank">Ballon d'Or award</a>, carried a football during the trip as he posed near <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/expo-2020/2021/10/06/all-you-need-to-know-about-expo-2020-dubais-fire-spitting-waterfall/" target="_blank">Expo's popular waterfall attraction</a>. The prolific forward, widely viewed as one of the best players in the history of the sport, met Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance and Co-existence, and Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, during his tour. The <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2021/08/05/lionel-messi-to-leave-barcelona-after-new-deal-collapses/" target="_blank">former Barcelona player</a> acts as an ambassador for the global extravaganza. In July, Expo organisers released a video showing him kicking a ball over the famed Al Wasl dome, to mark the three-month countdown to the event.
