Lionel Messi's dream of getting his hands on a maiden World Cup trophy has been fulfilled, but his fans looking to grab hold of the official Argentina jersey following the thrilling victory against France may be out of luck.

Fans all across the globe, rushing to buy Argentina's kits, are feeling the blues as the official La Albiceleste jerseys, particularly #10 with Messi's name, are scooped off the shelves both from the retail stores and online.

On German sportswear maker Adidas' website, all official Argentina jerseys were sold out. Reuters reported that the company struggled to keep up with demand even before the World Cup win.

Adidas launched the world cup winning edition t-shirt with three stars blending with AFA monogram, where the three strips of the brand represented the colours of the Argentinian flag.

Messi was also seen wearing the jersey in an Instagram post after the team landed in Argentina, and within hours of the post the t-shirt was sold out in Dubai.

A sales representative of the Adidas store at Mall of the Emirates said, "The winning edition t-shirts were sold out very quickly. Even now every second customer comes in asking for it. The demand is very high, but we are not sure of restocking date".

He added, "The Argentina jersey was sold out last week across GCC, and even now, the demand for the blue stripes is not easing away."

Many shops in Al Karama and Naif souq even ran out of counterfeit Argentina jerseys since the demand is peaking all over the emirate.

A Messi fan, Max, told Khaleej Times that he had been looking for the Argentina jersey before the semi-final but couldn't get his hands on one.

"I went to at least ten Adidas outlets across Dubai looking for the jersey. But thankfully, yesterday I got the world cup winning edition tee, and I just got lucky because it was the last piece at the outlet", Max said.

The t-shirt costs Dh139 at the Adidas outlet. For many, the t-shirt is a memento. Acquiring football jerseys is a way of making ephemeral sports memories feel more tactile. We know that every goal is a fleeting moment that isn't coming back, but a shirt that might remind the fans of that moment is always there.

Fans will want to hold on to that night when Messi scored twice, which made him the first player to score in every round of the World Cup.

An updated version of the jersey, with three stars to mark Argentina's three World Cup wins, is yet to be released.

 

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