The 2022 World Cup has ended, but the echoes of teamwork, friendship and collective spirit of famous players still leave an impression on fans.

Lionel Messi and Kun Aguero

If there was a title for the most unique character in this year’s World Cup, Kun Aguero would certainly be a strong candidate. As Lionel Messi’s best friend, the former player had many humorous actions and situations. 

Lionel Messi and Kun Aguero

Accordingly, right before the 2022 World Cup final, Kun Aguero, despite retiring for health reasons, was still “specially granted” entry into the Argentina national team’s training area to sleep with Lionel Messi. It is unclear what these two close friends confided in each other, how Aguero “inspired” his friend, but the effect is clear to everyone, Messi became the “locomotive” to bring Argentina to the championship after 36 years of waiting.

During the Argentina team’s celebration moments, Kun Aguero was also present. This time, he did not create on the field but was the support, lifting his friend onto his shoulder so that Messi could have an impressive celebration moment. 

Aguero carries Messi on his shoulders

Of course, to have today, the two best friends have spent nearly 2 decades together. The two first met when they were U16 and U17 players of Argentina. But it was only a few years later, when they were called up to the U20 Argentina team and were placed in the same room, that they became close to each other until now. 

“We have completely different personalities. Messi is always neat, responsible, and tidy. While I am messy and very slow. So when we share a room, there are many funny things that happen between us. But Messi always shares a room with me, because we get along very well. We are like an old married couple” – Kun Aguero told Diario Sport about his famous friend. 

The couple have been together since they were young, and are roommates every time they go to national team training.

Not only are they a perfect pair in football, they are also very close in real life. Lionel Messi is the godfather of Benjamin Aguero – Kun Aguero’s eldest son. After retiring, Kun Aguero turned to streamer and whenever there were no viewers, the former player called his best friend to interact. 

Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi

One of the most beautiful moments of the 2022 World Cup was the shirt swap between Kylian Mbappé and Achraf Hakimi after the semi-final match between France and Morocco. After exchanging, the pair wore their shirts backwards, so that the camera could clearly capture their names and numbers, showing respect for their friend. 

When leaving the football field, the two close friends even sat down in the tunnel to talk. This action was noticed because Mbappé is considered one of the top superstars in the world today. Being able to comfortably chat with Hakimi anytime, anywhere like that shows the level of closeness and sincere friendship of the couple. 

Mbappe and Hakimi swap shirts

Two close friends sat on the floor by the tunnel to talk.

Mbappé and Hakimi started playing together in the summer of 2021, when Hakimi moved from Inter Milan to play for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). It was Mbappé who initiated the conversation and helped his new teammate integrate into the new environment and place, such as taking Hakimi out to eat, shopping for clothes, choosing a house and introducing him to his parents. From here, the pair became inseparable both on and off the field. 

Before the 2022 World Cup took place, Kylian Mbappé expressed his desire to face Achraf Hakimi in the biggest tournament on the planet. At that time, Morocco was not highly rated, many people even predicted that this team would have difficulty getting past the group stage. Therefore, Mbappé’s wish was only seen as encouragement for his close friend. However, anything can happen, France and Morocco met in the semi-finals, Mbappé and Hakimi kept their promise to face each other. 

The two are close in real life.

In another moment, when interviewed together, Mbappé also said that having to confront his best friend would somewhat break his heart. Although both threatened to defeat the opponent, both spoke in a very cheerful atmosphere. 

Kaoru Mitoma and Ao Tanaka

In Japan’s memorable journey at the 2022 World Cup, the most emotional moment was probably their victory over championship candidate Spain. This result was greatly contributed by the goal that increased the score to 2 – 1 by the duo Kaoru Mitoma and Ao Tanaka. Mitoma was the assist and Tanaka scored. 

Kaoru Mitoma (below) and Ao Tanaka (above)

After the match, Mitoma said he was quite surprised that his teammate was there in time to receive the pass from him and attributed the goal to Tanaka’s hard work. However, Tanaka insisted that this was an obvious situation because he trusted his friend very much, the two of them played football together since they were young. 

Despite being one year apart in age, Mitoma and Tanaka have been playing together since 2006, when they were both in elementary school at Saginuma School (Kanagawa Prefecture). The pair quickly caught the eye of Kawasaki Frontale Club’s scouts and were trained in the club’s elementary school football talent development program. 

In 2018, Mitoma and Tanaka made their debut for Kawasaki Frontale’s first team. Just a few years later, the pair were noticed by European teams and decided to go abroad, but with two different destinations. Mitoma joined Brighton & Hove Albion (England) and Tanaka played for Fortuna Dusseldorf (Germany). Therefore, being called up to the national team at the 2022 World Cup is not only an honor but also gives the pair the opportunity to play together again like when they were children.

With this brilliance, the Japanese media also quickly found the image of the two best friends when they were children. Especially since the age of 13, Mitoma wrote in her graduation book the wish to “make the country proud as a soccer player” and “go to the World Cup”. A year later, Tanaka also wrote these things in his graduation book and up to now, both have fulfilled their own promises.