World Cup Winner Messi Pays Tribute to Late Brazil Football Icon Pele

• The football world continues to overflow with tributes and commiserations for late Pele
• Football stars past and present have taken to social media to pay homage to the legend
• Fellow South American Lionel Messi posted a short tribute to the departed football icon

The news of the passing of Brazilian soccer legend Pele sent the football world and the world in general into mourning. He lost the battle to illness after weeks of hospitalisation in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The news of his death was confirmed by his daughter Kely Nascimento on Instagram, and the rest of the world took it from there, with the hashtag 'RIP Pele' dominating most social media platforms in the hours to follow.

Part of the reigning world champions with Argentian, Lionel Messi also took to his social media to say his final goodbye to his fellow South American football superstar.

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Messi's tribute to Pele

The seven-time Ballon dOr winner is still in celebratory mood back in his native Argentina, after winning the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup - the last trophy left for him to win in his career.

To Instagram, Messi uploaded pictures of himself and Pele at different occasions, as well as the iconic picture of the Brazilian jumping into teammate Jairzinho's arms in the final of the 1970 World Cup in Sweden, which the Selecao won and was Pele's third and last world title.

Messi wrote a very short caption for the photos: Descansa en paz @pele, which translates to 'Rest in peace @pele'.

The Argentine won his first international trophy, the 2021 Copa America, at the Maracana stadium by beating Brazil in the final, according to the BBC.

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Pele never won a Copa America, losing the 1959 South American Championship final held in Argentina to the host country. However, he was the top scorer with eight goals and was named the tournament's best player.

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Sports Brief earlier reported that three-time World Cup winner Pele congratulated Messi, after he led Argentina to win the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

He acknowledged that the Argentine deserves to lay his hands on the coveted trophy, adding the veteran forward's extraordinary career which puts him in the discussion as one of the greatest.

Pele also congratulated France star Kylian Mbappe, who continues to match and break some of the Brazil legend's World Cup records.