Argentinian witches lifted a 'curse' that was on Messi at the start of the World Cup

Given that he is possibly the greatest footballer of all time, you could say that Lionel Messi doesn't need that much help but when it comes to winning the World Cup any assistance is appreciated even if it is from witches.

The Argentine maestro will possibly play his final ever World Cup game on Sunday which just happens to be the final against current holders France and he and the team will have the full support of Argentina behind them as well as its small population of witches.

In a New York Times feature, Magali Martinez, a witch and part-time babysitter, claims that she saw Messi struggling with what she believed to be a supernatural curse called the 'evil eye.'

She then began repeating a prayer and poured some oil into a bowl. According to her if the oil collected in the middle then Messi was cursed which it did. Martinez then turned to Twitter and asked her fellow witches to help Messi. "Evil-eye healing sisters, Messi is very affected," she wrote. "I need your help."

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Since then Argentina have gone on a winning streak, overcoming their first-game loss to Saudi Arabia to beat Mexico, Poland, Australia, Netherlands and Croatia to reach the final.

Now comes their toughest test against France but Didier Deschamps won't just be facing 11 footballers but a group of more than 300 witches named the Argentine Association of Witches which has seen a huge influx of members during the World Cup.

The witches are now focusing their efforts on absorbing all the negative energy surrounding the Argentinan players but that can be difficult for the witches. 28-year-old Andrea Maciel adds: "Headaches, dizziness, vomiting, muscle pain. We are absorbing all the bad vibes. It wears you down a lot, because these are very public figures who have so much negative energy from other people."

It's not just Messi and Argentina that the witches will be concentrating on the French players too including their star forward Kylian Mbappe. On Wednesday, the group tweeted: "We do not recommend freezing France, as their players are protected by dark entities and the energy can bounce back. We saw very dark things in the French team and especially in Mbappé. Please share!!!"

Of course, superstitions in football are not uncommon with players and fans all following their own good luck rituals before and during games but will they actually help Argentina win the World Cup and give Messi the grand prize that has alluded his illustrious career?

Antonella Spadafora, the founder of the group say that they have already started working on the final and after checks all the tools at their disposal |it indicates that Argentina is going to win."

It remains to be seen if Messi's army of witches can help him and Argentina wim the World Cup but we'll just have to wait and see. The final at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar kicks off at 3pm GMT.

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