For years, it’s been a running joke that Lionel Messi couldn’t speak English. Despite residing in the United States since 2023 and seeing his Spanish-speaking teammates effortlessly converse in English, Messi’s proficiency in the language remained a mystery. However, fans finally caught a glimpse of Messi speaking English in a surprising turn of events—a brief cameo in the trailer for the upcoming Bad Boys: Ride or Die movie.
Lionel Messi speaks English publicly for the first time
In the trailer, Messi makes a cameo appearance at the doorstep of Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnette, portrayed by Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. The iconic moment sees Messi uttering his first English words on screen, asking simply, “Bad Boys?” However, his encounter takes an unexpected turn as Lowrey and Burnette inform him that he’s at the wrong house, promptly closing the door in his face.
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Inter Miami teammate Julian Gressel reveals Lionel Messi speaks English
While Messi’s English-speaking skills have largely remained elusive to the public, teammate Julian Gressel recently disclosed that Messi has been communicating in English on the pitch. Despite this revelation, Messi’s brief cameo in the movie trailer marks a rare occasion where fans get to hear the soccer legend speaking English.
‘Between me and Leo we’ve had this running joke a little bit ever since the the first few days,’ the German full-back said on the Player Manager podcast in March.
‘I asked him if he speaks any English and he was like “no, not really, your Spanish is probably better than my English,”‘ he went on.
‘There was one moment in Saudi … he came over to me and spoke to me in English. He covers his mouth and says “now, we change. You stay and Jordi (Alba) runs, Jordi goes more in behind.”‘
‘After, he goes “English, pretty good, no?” I was like “yes, very very good! I understood everything.”‘
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