Messi plushies see roaring trade as China firms get World Cup boost

YIWU, China: Toy charms shaped like a goat and decked out in Lionel Messi's Argentina number 10 shirt pepper a factory tabletop in China, where sellers are betting on the country's lucrative fan market for a big World Cup boost.

The World Cup begins in North America on Thursday (Jun 11) but China won't be there after failing to qualify once again, leaving their sole appearance back in 2002.

Yet there's still plenty of interest in the country and the showpiece is a boon for Chinese merchants crunching out kits and accessories for fans spending on "emotional value" - a rare bright spot in a domestic economy plagued by sluggish consumption.

The palm-sized soft-toy goats - homage to Messi's title as the GOAT ("greatest of all time") - are a best-seller for All Star Partner, a Chinese firm that has a contract with teams including Argentina to make branded products.

The company's sales are up fivefold this year compared to the 2022 World Cup, according to its CEO.

At the factory in Yiwu, China's wholesale hub in the east of the country, workers affixed chains to the blue and white Messi "goats", which are designed to be attached to bags.

They are then packaged and sent out for storefronts across the country.

Nearby were soft-toy footballers resembling Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, fluffy roosters in France polos and teddy bears in Spain kits.

A "very ordinary" bear was the first iteration of the company's now-booming plush charms, sharing a market with Chinese toymaker Pop Mart's wildly popular Labubus.

"We dressed it in a football kit and it sold really well," said CEO Luo Bin.

"We sold tens of thousands as soon as it came out, so very quickly we felt that this category was very popular."

Luo admitted that the plush pendants had little