Fifa World Cup: India couple marry in France

• Argentinian and French flags fluttered in the streets by fans.
• Indian state of Kerala loves football.
• The wedding of Sachin R and R Athira was on the same day as the final on Sunday.

In a country that loves cricket, football fans in the southern Indian state of Kerala have always stood out for their love of the sport.

On Sunday, the state was getting ready to watch the final between France and Argentina.

Argentinian and French flags fluttered in the streets as fans gathered by the thousands to watch the match on makeshift screens.

But two people stood out because of how much they loved the beautiful game. The wedding of Sachin R and R Athira was on the same day as the final on Sunday. Even though they agreed on most of the details of their wedding, they didn’t want to give in on who they were rooting for in the final.

Sachin is a huge fan of Lionel Messi, who plays for Argentina. Athira, on the other hand, loves the French football team.

Hours before the two teams played one of the most exciting games in World Cup history in Qatar’s Lusail Stadium, they got married in Kochi city.

In addition to their jewellery and traditional wedding clothes, the bride and groom wore number 10 jerseys. Athira wore one for French forward Kylian Mbappe, and Sachin wore Messi’s colours for Argentina.

The newspaper Malayala Manorama says that after their wedding ceremony, the couple rushed through their reception and wedding feast so they could get back to Sachin’s house in Thiruvananthapuram, which is 206km (128 miles) away, in time to watch what turned out to be an amazing final.

The final was decided by a penalty shootout, which Argentina won 4–2. This gave Messi, who is 35 years old, a chance to win the World Cup for the first time.

Messi has a lot of fans in Kerala, and since Sunday night, people all over the state have been celebrating the win by waving Argentina flags and setting off fireworks.

A hotel owner in Thrissur kept his promise to give away free biryani if Argentina won.

The state’s love of soccer is so strong that FIFA took notice last month when fans set up huge cardboard statues of football stars in the state.

Neymar, a famous football player from Brazil, also saw the statues and thanked his fans in the state.

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