Neymar, Pogba, Messi and other cracks that appear in popular video games

Football and video games have forged a unique relationship for quite some time. Today there are not only many footballers who -usually- spend their time playing with a controller in their hands or the keys of their computer, but also some of them decide to be protagonists of the same video games. And not just any one.

In recent years, it has become clear that FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer (today eFootball) are no longer the only games that exclusively feature the presence of soccer players and soccer clubs. In fact, recently, in the midst of the launch of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and less than a month before the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the peculiar appearance of the skins of two soccer cracks was revealed: Paul Pogba and Neymar.

Both the Frenchman from Juventus and the Brazilian from PSG appear in the images leaked on social networks as playable characters – operators – from Call of Duty that would be used online in Modern Warfare 2, as well as in Warzone 2.0 later.

But that is not all. In addition to Neymar and Pogba, it is also expected to see Lionel Messi equipped with his weapons in this popular video game, although – for better or worse – no image of the Argentine has yet been leaked.

Most likely, the inclusion of these stellar characters will be made official soon by Activision. In any case, this is not the first time that football cracks have appeared in video games. The list has been extended over the past few years.

Other cracks in game consoles

The link between soccer players and video games is so great that even some stars of this sport venture into the world of streaming. In fact, Neymar has expressed his liking for Call of Duty several times, even broadcasting this from his official Twitch channel.

In addition, the Brazilian has already been a protagonist in other games. In Fortnite, many ‘gamers’ use the ‘Ney’ skin to complete different challenges and missions with him across the screen, far from football. Also in the Minecraft game, the PSG crack has his own skin. Mech Arena and Free Fire (unofficially) are other games that have featured him.

Speaking precisely about Free Fire, it is necessary to mention that Cristiano Ronaldo collaborated with this popular video game. In 2020, the Portuguese star gave up his appearance to recreate Chrono, a new character on the battlefield.

“It’s a great feeling not only to have a character in Free Fire that has been inspired by me, but also to have the entire universe within the game changing along with him”pointed out the Portuguese crack in the officialization of the news.

CR7 also appears as a peculiar character in GTA San Andreas. And he is not the only one. Cracks like Messi, Mesut Özil, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, among many others, also have their own skin.

Likewise, Harry Kane and Marco Reus hit the Fortnite Item Shop in June 2021 for the ‘Idol Series’ section of the game. Then, Minecraft abounds with soccer characters from all over the world, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi being the most popular.