MOSCOW: Visitors and Moscow residents may have been surprised to see Argentina's Lionel Messi smiling down on them from a giant mural on the side of a building as part of the promotion for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The mural was painted on the side of a structure near Moscow's Pushkin Square, reports Efe.
Alfa Bank, which created the advertising campaign, told EFE that the Barcelona forward was delighted with the mural.
The image of Messi, who appears in a red shirt with the official tournament ball in his hands, is roughly eight metres (26 ft) tall and is a good likeness of the striker, who will be playing in his fourth World Cup.
Alfa Bank describes Messi as the face of its World Cup promotional campaign, which will last until the start of the tournament in June.
Messi said he was honoured to be part of the campaign because it allowed him to be closer to Russian football fans.