Lionel Messi was slapped during Argentina training by teammate Rodrigo de Paul amidst a good-natured sparring session involving the Paris Saint-Germain superstar.
Atletico Madrid midfielder De Paul mouthed: "Are you stupid, Leo?" during the incident, which highlights the strong spirits within the Argentina international squad just months ahead of this winter's World Cup finals in Qatar.
Messi cemented his status as the all-time greatest as Argentina ended their trophy drought last summer by winning the Copa America, defeating Brazil in the final. The nation is now attempting to go one step further by lifting the World Cup for the first time this century.
The Argentine national team are now unbeaten across their last 33 matches stretching back to the summer of 2019 when they were eliminated by that edition of the Copa America by Brazil.
They qualified convincingly for the World Cup in the meantime, alongside winning the following edition of the South American tournament two years later - as their strong run of form continued.
They are among the favourites to win this year's World Cup as they seek to lift the tournament for the first time since 1986 – a year before Messi was born. Now aged 35, this is likely to be the PSG superstar's final attempt to win the competition as a player.
The strong bond between the players was evident during a team training session in the US as Argentina's squad was training using Inter Miami's facilities. They are preparing for friendly matches against Honduras and Jamaica later this month in the final international break before the World Cup.
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Footage of the team training showed De Paul and Messi vying together, with the Atleti midfielder mouthing towards the star: "Are you stupid, Leo?" Subsequently, De Paul can be seen lightly slapping Messi in the face.
All of this is shown with smiles on the player's faces, with De Paul and Messi close friends away from the pitch – with the two often sharing pictures of them together on their social media accounts, a common thread throughout the Argentina squad. Leandro Paredes, the Juve midfielder who was Messi's former teammate at PSG, was also close by laughing during the incident.
Argentina have been placed as top seeds in the World Cup Group C along with Mexico, Poland and Saudi Arabia, with Lionel Scaloni's side strong favourites to progress and advance deep into the competition.
