Messi, Ronaldo begin World Cup mind games with identical social media posts

Messi, Ronaldo
The Instagram posts from Messi (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo. Screenshots

The Fifa World Cup is just hours away from kicking off in Qatar and two of the best players who will be in action have started their mind games.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, two greats of the game, excited fans with identical social media posts featuring them together.

The two superstars posted a photograph of them playing chess as part of a brand promotion. 'Victory is a State of Mind,' they captioned it.

The image shows the two footballers in casual attire engrossed in a game of chess over a chequered chest stacked on top of a larger one.

The posts soon went viral even as it was a promotion considering the duo is going to hog the limelight in Qatar, which could most likely be their final world cup.

At 37, Ronaldo will lead his nation Portugal in search of their maiden World Cup while Messi, 35, should be hoping to emulate the icon, Diego Maradona under whose leadership Argentina had last attained glory in 1986.

Ronaldo's Portugal is in Group H also comprising Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea. Messi's Argentina are alongside Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland in Group C.

Argentina begin their World Cup campaign against Saudi on November 22 while Portugal start on November 24 against Ghana.

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