Israeli sports broadcaster Dor Hoffman said he was overwhelmed after Lionel Messi shook his hand following Argentina’s 3-0 World Cup win over Algeria on Monday. Hoffman, who had already watched Messi score a brace against Austria, described the handshake as the peak moment of the night, and also said Messi greeted former player and analyst Maor Melikson.
Speaking on Sport1’s late-night studio, Hoffman said, "No matter what you ask me, I suddenly don’t know how to speak. I feel like I’m not in this world at all. Messi shook my hand. I can’t describe it." He later joked on social media, "I said to myself I’ll extend my hand to him and say ‘thank you.’ I allow myself to get excited in a completely disproportionate way."
Hoffman then explained how it happened, saying Messi had been selected as the match’s outstanding player and that he waited, stood up, and thought he would simply say thank you before Messi reached out first. "I’m not showering," he said, adding that Messi did not look human to him. "He is about your height, more or less, but something about him does not seem human. When he shook my hand, I completely lost it."
He said the chance to be close to Messi and touch him was extraordinary, even though he is an adult with children. "It still excites me extremely. I will take this with me forever," Hoffman said. The encounter took place in Dallas on June 22, 2026, and was shared by the broadcasters on their social media accounts.
