How Kerala Shows Up for the Argentinian National Team

This week, we had an opportunity to talk with one of Twibbonize creators. He is part of the team behind Argentina Fans Kerala, a fanbase dedicated for the Argentinian national football team, Muhammed Suhail. 

Earlier, one campaign they created caught our attention, successfully landing on top of our trending page with supporters counting at 1,900.

It may seem like an ordinary feat to be achieved by a fanbase of a football team, but what makes theirs especially interesting is that this Argentina fanbase consists wholly of the people of Kerala, India. 

So we reached out, and from our conversation we learned how football is embedded in Kerala's culture as well as the invention of the fanbase.

Suhail, an engineer who currently works in Kuwait, was born and raised in Kerala. “A small area, a lot of greenery, and naturally it is amazing,” he described of the southernmost state on the Malabar Coast, India. 

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason why Kerala is famed for its love of football, but it was easy for Suhail to recall that the sport has always been a part of him growing up. 

When he was 6, he watched Argentina in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which was Lionel Messi’s World Cup debut, and from then on he became a devoted supporter of La Albiceleste, the white and sky blue team.

Argentina Fans Kerala

The fact that football has such a stronghold in Kerala is connected to the country’s history. Prior to India’s independence, the people were introduced to football by the British soldiers stationed in Malabar. The sport gained popularity swiftly among the locals, even until now.

For the past two World Cups, Kerala always made the news due to their enthusiastic welcome of the tournament. Just last week, fans undocked a floating stadium with cutouts of the entire Argentine 2026 squad.

From @Worldcupcatcher

It seems that the people of Kerala do not hold back their passion. And AFK takes this football frenzy from the offline to online sphere.

“We first met face to face back in 2011, and then we created a Facebook group online,” says Suhail of the beginning of AFK. Currently, he manages the group with a small team of friends who edit and create all the content shared on their page across platforms. 

On Facebook, where they originally started, they have over 300K members. And now on Instagram, where they are more active posting reels, they have more than 148K followers. With these fantastic numbers, Suhail expressed that their self-described “largest Argentinian Football Fan Club in the World” is not an empty claim.

When asked about what makes him a fan of Argentina, Suhail took a second before responding resolutely with, “It’s their gameplay.”

From @Rlzw4n

He explained further that people in the community began to love the Argentinian national team for many reasons. Some became dedicated because of the legendary player Maradona, some due to other players. But ultimately it’s the way the players play in the field that drew them together. Suhail himself is a fan of the current team captain, eight-times recipient of Ballon d’Or, Lionel Messi.

AFK for the 2026 World Cup

Prior to Argentina’s first match at the 2026 World Cup on June 16, AFK released a twibbon for the community to show their support. 

The twibbon is energetic. It places Messi at the center and the entire squad circling him. “The deal is with the Dios” is chosen as the slogan. Of course, AFK does not forget to add Messi’s iconic words that he quipped upon winning against the Netherlands in the World Cup 2022, “¿Qué mirá, bobo?” What are you looking at, fool?

AFK pushed the campaign roughly two weeks before the World Cup opened on June 11, three weeks before Argentina's first match, both on Instagram and Facebook with accessible QR.

That timing is deliberate. Fan energy peaks before the first kick-off, and they are looking for ways to declare their allegiance. Now that the game is underway, the campaign link still remains on their bio. It’s all about creating and maintaining the hype!

The group also posts primarily in Malayalam, spoken by majority in Kerala, which focuses the campaign inside the community it was built for. This might be a downside for some other creators, but when your community is as devoted as the people of Kerala, making your campaign specific for them would only increase the chance of them joining.

And what happens next comes automatically, a Kerala fan changes their photo during the World Cup, their contacts see it. Some click through and join. 

Even amidst the ease that AI provides—Suhail also shared some pictures that the members did with the help of AI, producing professional-looking shots of them wearing the white-sky blue jersey—the community’s campaign still spreads through with Twibbonize. The same community that built AFK over 15 years.

What happens with AFK is something that is uniquely Kerala, too. They take the sport that was introduced by England way back in history, and make it their own. 

They established a new meaning for football, where they can fully devote themselves to these teams, and the people around them encourage them to do so.

The enthusiasm and energy that AFK has shown online seemed to reach La Albiceleste successfully since the qualifying match ended in victory, 3-0, against Algeria, with Messi scoring all three goals, snatching the Player of the Match trophy as well.

But the World Cup is not over yet. The Argentina Fans Kerala campaign will continue along with planned screening events for the coming matches until, fingers crossed, Argentina reach the final and win the golden trophy.