October 11 – Lionel Messi will feature in a star-studded ‘match for peace’ in tribute to fellow Argentina legend Diego Maradona on November 14 in Rome, organisers announced on Monday.
Ronaldinho, Gianluigi Buffon and Roma’s Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho have also confirmed their participation. The match for peace is organised by a foundation created by Pope Francis.
The match will take place on November 14 at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, less than a week before the start of the World Cup in Qatar.
Maradona died aged 60 in November 2020. He won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986 and played for FC Barcelona and Napoli at the club level.
He later took up coaching, with spells at clubs in the Middle East before taking on the role of Argentina’s head coach in 2008, leading Messi and the Albiceleste to the last eight of the 2010 World Cup.
Maradona is widely considered to be one the best football players of all time, standing in the pantheon of the football gods alongside Pelé, Johan Cruyff and Franz Beckenbauer.
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