World Cup Graffiti, Murals, Art Cover Buildings Around the World

As the 2018 FIFA World Cup got underway Thursday, with Russia (5) thrashing Saudi Arabia (0), murals of superstar footballers participating in the international sports tournament have propped up in different parts of the globe.

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A massive mural of Lionel Messi, Argentina's star player, was painted across a five-story building in the quaint Russian town of Bronnitsy, just outside of Moscow.

“When I was painting Messi, I was painting a legend of my time," said artist Sergey Erofeev. He said he hopes Messi catches a glimpse of his work as Argentina's national team has been training in the town.

While New Orleans-based artist Brandan 'Bmike' Odums painted a 10,000 square-foot image of Brazil's star striker, Neymar Jr., as well as a mural of Guinean-French superstar Paul Pogba.

“He (Pogba) uses his hair as his own canvas,” said Odums, who incorporated some of the French player's hairstyles into the piece.

“Football and art, I think it's the same,” Pogba once stated, according to Bleacher Report.

Several Russian artists have teamed up to craft mosaic duo honoring Messi and Egypt's star player, Mohamed Salah. They painstakingly applied tiny stones to create the image, according to the BBC.

A humble-faced Salah has also been painted on a section of brick wall in New York's Time Square. “As a footballer,” Salah stated, “It's something different to see myself anywhere in street art.”

Moscow's Sokolniki Park also plays host to murals of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Russia's Aleksandr Kokorin and Spain's Francisco Alarcon Suarez (popularly known as Isco).

Indian artists Sudarshan Pattnail and Swar Rao, though their national team didn't come close to qualifying for this year's World Cup, used six tons of sand to create sand-artwork commemorating the event. The inscription read, “Good Luck: Ball for Peace and Friendship.”