Sportswear giants Adidas have reported a global shortage of Lionel Messi shirts as the global demand has soared ahead of his side’s World Cup final against France.
The German manufacturer is exploring ways to overcome the shortage ahead of what could be one of the biggest celebrations in the world if Argentina wins the World competition on Sunday.
“Due to extraordinary demand for the Adidas Argentina World Cup jerseys across the globe, we have very low stock in some countries,” a spokesperson with knowledge of the brand’s workings told Reuters.
“We are working to get more jerseys to fans so they can celebrate an incredible journey for the national team.”
The situation has allowed replica jerseys to flood the market which can damage the sales of the kit manufacturers in what is the most profitable time for the companies.
Argentina is the only Adidas-sponsored team to advance beyond the last 16 at the tournament in Qatar.
The company is still experiencing higher sales compared to the 2018 World Cup in Russia by almost 30% this year largely due to it being Messi’s last chance at making footballing history.
Only three of Adidas’ seven sponsored teams made the knockout stages but their sales outlook of 400 million euros remains on course.
Messi and Adidas have been partners since 2006 when the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner left Nike for their rivals due to disagreements.
As fate would have it, France is sponsored by Nike.
