Lionel Messi’s legacy has been celebrated in Argentina with diverse tributes, from tattoos to murals, following his triumphant leadership of the national team to World Cup glory.
Now, his image has been immortalized in a novel way—on a specially designed cornfield. In Los Condores, a town in central Córdoba province, a cornfield has been planted to create a massive visual portrait of Messi.
This unique tribute was achieved using an algorithm that meticulously calculated the planting pattern of the seeds, ensuring that when the corn grew, it formed a recognizable image of Messi’s face.
Maximiliano Spinazze, the farmer behind this project, expressed his admiration for Messi, stating, “For me, Messi is unbeatable.” He celebrated the national team’s victory—their first World Cup win since Diego Maradona’s 1986 triumph—by creating this extraordinary agricultural artwork.
Argentina, known for its fervent football culture and agricultural industry, is the world’s third-largest corn exporter. While farming drives much of the country’s economy, football remains a point of immense national pride.
Carlos Faricelli, a farming engineer, developed the code used to direct the seed-planting machinery to form Messi’s face. He described his creation as a tribute and made the coding available for other adventurous farmers. Faricelli explained, “I had the idea to make a code that goes in the seeders with Messi’s face as a tribute.”
Using geocoding technology, the machinery adjusts seed density across different areas of the field. Areas with denser planting produce a darker green, while less densely planted sections allow the soil to show through, creating a striking contrast in the final image when viewed from above.
“This kind of agricultural art,” Faricelli said, “is made possible by planting the seeds in specific patterns, so when the corn grows, the contrast in green shades reveals the image.”