A video showing massive crowds gathered on city streets to welcome a celebrity has gone viral on social media.
What's the claim?: The viral post claims that the video captures Lionel Messi’s arrival in Hyderabad, triggering massive celebrations by fans.
Why is it being shared?: The claim is being shared against the backdrop of Messi visiting India between 13 and 15 December, as part of the GOAT India Tour 2025.
The tour involved short multi-city visits in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi, aimed at engaging with fans and celebrating his career. It marked Messi’s first visit to India since 2011 and drew large crowds and extensive media attention.
What's the truth?: The claim is false.
The video dates back to June 2025 and shows crowds gathered at Hyderabad's Sandhya Theatre for Pushpa 2: The Rule promotions featuring Allu Arjun.
What we found: We ran keyframes from the viral video through Google’s reverse image search.
We found the same clip posted by a user on X, formerly Twitter on 26 November 2025.
Since Lionel Messi’s visit to India took place in December 2025, the video predates his arrival and is unrelated to the claims linking it to his visit.
We were able to identify the context of the video through the user’s caption, which linked it to promotions for Pushpa 2: The Rule featuring actor Allu Arjun.
We then ran a relevant keyword search and found news reports stating that on 5 December 2024, Allu Arjun arrived at Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad for the premiere of Pushpa 2: The Rule, where a large crowd of fans had gathered outside the venue to catch a glimpse of the actor.
Using this context, we found a clip carrying similar visuals, uploaded on 5 December 2024, by News Buzz on their YouTube channel.
Conclusion: . The viral video predates Lionel Messi’s visit to India and is unrelated to his arrival in Hyderabad.
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