It’s a match of the minds between Argentine fútbol player Lionel Messi and Portuguese fútbol player Cristiano Ronaldo in a new advertisement for Louis Vuitton. In the ad, Messi and Ronaldo are playing chess against one another atop a Louis Vuitton trunk and checkered watch case. The photo was taken by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.
“Victory is a State of Mind,” reads Louis Vuitton’s post on social media featuring the ad. “[Ronaldo] and [Messi] captured by [Annie Leibovitz] for [Louis Vuitton]. In addition to a long tradition of crafting trunks for the world’s most coveted sporting trophies, the Maison celebrates two of the most talented football players today.”
The photo was released on the heels of the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup this past weekend. Argentina’s first game is scheduled for Tuesday (November 22) against Saudi Arabia. Portugal’s first game is scheduled for Thursday (November 24) against Ghana.
Messi has confirmed that this will be his final World Cup. He played in the last four tournaments but has never won the trophy. Although Ronaldo hasn’t confirmed that this year will be his final World Cup tournament, it’s likely that it will be. Like Messi, he has never won the big prize. He, too, has competed in four prior tournaments.
Between the two, the consensus from FOX Sports’ soccer analysts is that Messi and Argentina have a better chance to go the distance than Ronaldo and Portugal, although anything can happen.
“[Messi] is surrounded by talent that can score, defend and create,” said former U.S. fútbol player Cobi Jones. “It will allow him to do special things. To create moments of magic.”
Whichever captain leads his team farther in the tournament will be exciting to witness, but with the Louis Vuitton ad, now we’re wondering who would be victorious in a game of chess. Ronaldo seems to think he has what it takes to top his competition.
“Checkmate – we give some checkmates in life,” he said recently. “It is not playing chess. We can give it in life’s situations, too. I do it many times. I would like to be the one to give a checkmate against him. Let’s see. It would be beautiful. As it happened in chess, it would be magic to happen in football as well.”