Lionel Messi had to laugh after being given a 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles plushie' and everyone knows why

Lionel Messi had a hilarious reaction to being handed what appeared to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles plushie during Argentina's welcome home parade - with fans assuming it to be a reference to Kylian Mbappe.

La Albiceleste lifted the World Cup for the third time in their history on Sunday evening following a 4-2 penalty shootout win over France.

Messi and Angel Di Maria put Argentina 2-0 up in the first half before Mbappe single-handedly carried his nation to extra time with two goals in the final 10 minutes. Argentina thought they'd won it through Messi's second of the game, but Mbappe completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 118th minute.

Shootout misses from Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni were enough for Argentina to win their first World Cup since 1986.

Messi and his teammates touched down in Argentina on Monday to parade the World Cup trophy for the first time, with some choosing to throw gifts towards the open-top bus. You can check out Messi's reaction to receiving a rather interesting one below.

Messi caught the plushie as it was coming towards his head. He noticed it had an orange headband on and quickly turned it around.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner let out a laugh while sitting next to teammate and close friend Rodrigo De Paul. He then decided to lob the soft toy back into the crowd.

What's all that about then? Well, fans online believe it was Michelangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

When Mbappe first joined Paris Saint-Germain, senior players jokingly referred to him as 'Donatello'. Thiago Silva even bought him a Michelangelo mask to wear in the changing room. We're as annoyed as them mixing the Ninja Turtles up as much as you are too. Everyone knows Donatello wears purple rather than orange.

Thiago Silva/Instagram)

The clip has gone viral on Reddit with some joking Mbappe will be trying to find Messi a new club in the near future.

One person said: "He knew lol."

Another commented: "Sporting Director Mbappe at home taking notes and making calls to other clubs as we speak…"

A third tweeted: "The exact moment he realised what it was is great."

While someone put: "S**thouse celebrations you have to love it really."

Messi posted an emotional statement to Instagram after becoming a world champion for the first time.

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He said: "World Champions! I dreamed it so many times, I wanted it so much that I still haven’t fallen, I can’t believe it...... Thank you very much to my family, to all who support me and also to all who believed in us.

"We demonstrate once again that Argentines when we fight together and united we are capable of achieving what we set out to do.

"The merit belongs to this group, which is above individualities, it is the strength of all fighting for the same dream that was also the dream of all Argentines... We did it!!!"

It's since become the most-liked Instagram post of all time with 58.9 million likes at the time of writing.