#MessisBiggestFan Found: He is 5-Year-Old Murtaza Ahmadi From Afghanistan

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The young boy who has been making rounds on the Internet has finally been found. The 5-year old, who has become known as "Messi's biggest fan," is actually Murtaza Ahmadi from Afghanistan.

The online search to find the mystery boy was inspired by a single picture of a back of a child wearing a Lionel Messi shirt made from a plastic bag. The picture only showed the back of the boy with a buzz cut wearing a knitted sweater. The picture was posted on Instagram with a caption that reads "A kid in Iraq," reports CNN.

Turns out, the Iraq reference is not true. The Twitter user who hinted that the boy was from a city in northern Iraq later retracted his words, admitting that he made it all up.

Meanwhile, BBC reports that, as the photo went viral, it reached the attention of the Barcelona football star. Last week, the official account for Leo Messi fan received a direct message from Leo's team saying that they want to know who the kid is. Messi wanted to find his young fan to give him a proper shirt. And so the search began.

Azim Ahmadi posted pictures of his nephew Murtaza and claims that he is the boy that the Internet is looking for. He says that he is the boy in the original photo. Azim is an Afghan reportedly living in Australia. Azim had connected BBC with his brother Arif, Murtaza's father. The father confirmed that his son is indeed the boy the Internet is looking for.

According to Murtaza's father, the original photo of his son wearing the plastic shirt was taken by his oldest son Hamayon. He said that Hamayon had published the photo on his Facebook page. The family lived in the Jaghori District in the eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan, BBC reports.

"I feel very happy that he is famous now," Ahmadi said. "He is really excited that his pictures are everywhere now. He wants to become a football player in the future and go to school."

And "he wants to meet Messi," he added, according to the report.

Earlier this month, Messi reclaimed his title as the world's best player. He received his fifth Ballon d'Or award during a lavish ceremony in Zurich, reports CNN.

Meanwhile, Kurdistan TV earlier reported that a boy called Homin was the subject of the photo. They claimed that the boy was located in Dohuk where the search effort started. However, BBC has reported that the source of rumours that the boy hailed from Dohuk had admitted this is not true.

Messi is yet to confirm if he will meet his biggest fan. Check out Messi's moves on a short video clip below: