Lionel Messi’s Unusual Boot Choice for World Cup Qualifiers

Lionel Messi took to the pitch last night wearing a slightly unusual choice in boots. Unusual because he actually has multiple pairs that he could currently be wearing, and this pair doesn’t match what some might have expected.

During Argentina’s game with Colombia, as part of South American Qualifiers for Qatar 2022, he was wearing the adidas Nemeziz.1 in Metallic Gold/Scarlet/Core Black. These were released as part of the adidas latest celebration “Showpiece Pack”, and are in themselves new to the market.

But some, including myself, thought there would be a good chance we’d see him in the X50 Flow.1 that adidas just released this week. They were introduced as a signature Messi boot, so seeing them in action on the feet of the GOAT would have been a key selling point.

That really is the unusual piece to all this – how often do we see a player have two brand new colorways to choose from at one time? Pretty much never. Especially when you take into account that they are also totally different silos. adidas touting Messi’s “El Retorno” or return to speed boots was an indicator that we might see the switch happen immediately.

Seeing him in the Showpiece Nemeziz is not a huge surprise, and I’m glad he is actually getting the opportunity to showcase the colorway on pitch. It would have been sad to have his name associated without really give them action on the big stage.

It now looks like that switch is set to happen a little slower, and we will have to wait until Copa America kicks off (June 16th) before seeing their debut!