Lionel Messi and Neymar are at the centre of the latest apparent threat released by the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS). 
 
 Players appear in latest pre-World Cup 2018 threat 
 
 The footballers appear in an image seemingly depicting an execution, in which Messi can be seen lying on the ground next to an ISIS flag while a jihadist stands over a kneeling Neymar. 
 
 The photoshopped picture is accompanied by the message: "You will not enjoy security until we live it in Muslim countries." 
 
 The organisation has issued a number of such posters in recent days as part of a seeming focus on instilling fear ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 
 
 Last week, it released an image of an ISIS fighter and a bomb carrying the group's flag in front of Volgograd Arena, which is one of the tournament venues. 
 
 Both Messi and Neymar, who were team-mates at LaLiga giants Barcelona before the latter's summer departure for Paris Saint-Germain, are set to feature at the World Cup, for Argentina and Brazil respectively. 
 
 Messi already targeted by ISIS this week 
 
 Messi had already been threatened in another ISIS poster earlier this week, while France head coach Didier Deschamps has also been targeted. 
 
 Neymar PSG 
 
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 Islamic State terrorists have issued a chilling threat to attack the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 
 
 They have swamped social media with an image of a rifle-carrying Jihadi and a bomb bearing the regime’s infamous black flag. 
 
 It stands in front of Volgograd Arena in Southern Russia football stadium. 
 
 An official symbol of the finals is also included in the alarming promise to bring mayhem to the tournament. 
 
 The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be played across 11 cities in Russia from 14 June to 15 July, when the final will be played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. 
 
 (Image: TASS) 
 
 Tens of thousands of England fans are expected to base themselves in St Petersburg for the month-long finals. 
 
 Russia’s second largest city was scene of an horrific ISIS attack when a briefcase bomb detonated on the underground in April, killing 14 people. 
 
 The blast was in retaliation to Russia’s airstrikes in Syria that have helped bring the regime to its knees. 
 
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 Last week ISIS released another propaganda image featuring bullet-ridden photos of President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, 
 
 inviting its followers to stage more attacks on the group's two leading foes abroad. 
 
 (Image: AFP) 
 
 The image, shared throughout pro-ISIS channels on the encrypted messaging application Telegram, featured an excerpt of a Quranic verse manipulated by the ISIS followers to urge fellow jihadis to take every opportunity to conduct deadly attacks in the U.S. and Russia. 
 
 Despite the jihadis suffering severe territorial losses to military campaigns sponsored by Moscow and Washington, the image also claimed that ISIS would overcome its enemies on the battlefield. 
 
 "Lie in wait for them at every chance to ambush," the text reads beneath photos of Trump and Putin pasted to gun target practice sheets. "The Levant is the graveyard of the Russians and Americans." 
 
 Thousands of Russians from mainly central Asia have travelled to the Middle East to fight for ISIS. Experts in Moscow believe around 2,400 joined the regime in 2015 alone. 
 
 Islamic extremism is a concern for Putin, said Ian Brzezinski, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. 
 
 (Image: AFP) 
 
 "Despite his government's defence doctrines stating that the US and NATO is Russia's greatest threat, I have always felt that Putin regards Islamic extremism to be the most immediate threat," Brzezinski said. 
 
 "Putin cut his teeth destroying the Chechens. 
 
 "He regarded their rebellion as a manifestation of Islamic extremism. 
 
 "He also bolstered his own personal popularity in Russia by demonising the Chechens as Islamic terrorists and by brutally crushing them."
– Two of the biggest soccer stars in the world are the target of a new threat from ISIS ahead of the World Cup this summer in Russia. Per AS, Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain's Neymar appear in a photoshopped image released by the terrorist group this week. Neymar is shown kneeling in the desert next to a figure dressed in black, while Messi is lying on the ground next to an ISIS flag. The image is accompanied by a caption that reads, "You will not enjoy security until we live it in Muslim countries." This is just the latest in a series of threats the terrorist organization has made against the World Cup tournament, which is scheduled to begin June 14. On Oct. 17, the group released a photoshopped image of an ISIS fighter and a bomb with the group's flag outside a soccer stadium in Russia. And on Oct. 24, an image of Messi crying blood inside a prison cell was released, accompanied by the words "Just Terrorism." Authorities in the footballer's home country are taking the threats against Messi seriously, per Bleacher Report. Claudio Tapia, the head of the Argentina Football Association, has met with the Russian ambassador to discuss safety measures.