Argentina sings collective happy birthday to Messi

BUENOS AIRES, June 24 (Reuters) - Moved by Lionel Messi's record-breaking form at the World Cup, Argentines have taken to the streets and social media to sing "Happy Birthday" to their favourite footballer who turned 39 on Wednesday.

Under the hashtag #CumpleLEO, Telefé, a local television channel, launched a campaign for Argentines to sing "Happy Birthday" to him at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. local time, an allusion to the number 10 shirt worn by the Argentina captain.

Waving Argentine flags, groups of friends at the gym, children in schools, shop employees and neighbours gathered around the country and filled social media with messages of congratulations.

"Thank you for so much joy and for representing Argentina at the highest level. Happy birthday, champion!" posted a group of workers from a car dealership in the province of Buenos Aires.

Another group of fans arrived at the iconic Obelisk in downtown Buenos Aires.

"I've been here since 6:00 this morning," 71-year-old Rubén Acosta told Reuters. "I love Messi. He's an alien. Messi, you're one of a kind. You're not from this planet. You came from another galaxy."

President Javier Milei also congratulated Messi, writing on his X account "HAPPY BIRTHDAY L10NEL...!!! LET'S GO ARGENTINA DAMN IT...!!!."

Messi, an eight-times Ballon d'Or winner, became the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history on Monday and he has scored five goals in two matches at the tournament.

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni had a simple birthday wish for his team's talisman.

"That he be happy," Scaloni said.

(Reporting by Lucila Sigal, with additional reporting by Candelaria Grimberg; Writing by Leila Miller, editing by Ed Osmond)