Lionel Messi left the Leagues Cup match on Saturday night against visiting Necaxa in the 11th minute due to a right -legged injury. After Inter Miami completed its 2-2 draw, manager Javier Mascherano declared that Messi felt “discomfort of the hamstrings.”
The departure of Messi, 38, stops an exceptional career of clean health, the longest since he joined Miami in July 2023.
He had played at every minute of 16 consecutive games for Miami between the regular MLS season and the FIFA Club World Cup game before his failure to appear in the All-Star game of 2025 MLS resulted in a suspension of a match against FC Cincinnati a week ago.
He returned Wednesday night for the first game of the Miami Leagues Cup against Atlas and provided two assists, one that took the winner of the game late, in a 2-1 victory.
None of the teams scored before Messi’s departure on Saturday, although Miami’s fabric of Miami scored shortly after to put Miami in front. Necaxa took an advantage of 2-1 with the heron reduced to 10 men when Marcelo Weigandt was expelled for denying an obvious champion of goal, but Inter Miami recovered for the tie in extra time. The Heron won 5-4 on penalties.
Messi, eight times Ballon D’Or winner, has not scored in the League Cup. But in the MLS game, it is tied for the advantage of the League with 18 goals.
Messi’s consecutive appearances streak was in marked contrast with his first two seasons of the MLS, during which he lost significant portions of regular seasonal game.
After playing the seven games of the Miami race to the 2023 league cup title, the smaller ailments limited Messi only six appearances among the last 12 regular seasonal games of Miami that year.
He also dealt with multiple problems in 2024, the most pronounced was a prolonged recovery of a torn leg muscle while playing for Argentina during the 2024 Copa América final in July.
He played in just 19 games in his first full season of the MLS, but still scored 20 goals and had 16 assists to win the MVP 2024 League award.
