LOS ANGELES — Subsequent to LAFC’s third score on Saturday evening, which electrified the majority of the 75,600+ spectators present at the LA Coliseum, a supporter clad in an Argentina jersey stormed onto the pitch and swiftly dashed toward Inter Miami luminary Lionel Messi.
Such a sight is a frequent occurrence for any gathering featuring the 2022 World Cup victor; however, on this occasion, the triumphant melodies blaring were not in his honor, as Miami was trailing 3-0. Verily, in Messi’s inaugural competitive match of 2026 with the reigning MLS Cup titleholders, the opening chapters of the cinematic narrative crafted for him in another World Cup year unfolded differently than anticipated.
Prior to Saturday’s prominent MLS season-opening fixture against Son Heung-min’s LAFC, concerns had arisen regarding Messi’s involvement, as he had sustained a thigh muscle strain during Miami’s exhibition game in February.
At 38 years of age, it was reasonable to not only be apprehensive about his commencement of the MLS campaign but also to ponder if this might indicate potential problems for this summer’s World Cup. After all, Messi has still to unequivocally commit to this summer’s tournament with Argentina and has been candid about his physical condition playing a role.
“My wish is to be present. To be in good health and to be a crucial contributor to my national squad’s efforts, if I am there,” Messi stated, recalling October. “I am going to evaluate that constantly when I begin pre-campaign training next year with Inter [Miami] and ascertain if I can truly be at peak performance. I’m genuinely keen because it’s the World Cup.”
However, despite the fact that Miami head coach Javier Mascherano verified on Friday that the player honored with the Ballon d’Or eight times was “engaging in practice at an equivalent intensity to his teammates throughout the week,” Miami’s No. 10 appeared below his usual standard against LAFC.
In the initial ten minutes, Messi’s touch appeared surprisingly inaccurate, as did the precision of his deliveries. His passing improved considerably in due course, and he was quite unfortunate not to register an assist, yet the same could not be asserted regarding his shooting, as he failed to strike the goal once.
Messi did not face this predicament in isolation. Whether attributable to adapting to a new forward, Germán Berterame, leading the line, or its captain’s subpar performance, Miami wasn’t capable of building significant impetus until after LAFC established a 1-0 advantage via a strike from David Martínez, set up by Son.
The 33-year-old South Korea international harbors his own ambitions leading up to the World Cup after departing from Tottenham Hotspur last year. What was noteworthy for a match involving Messi was precisely how many LAFC supporters — with many adorned in shirts bearing Son’s name — significantly eclipsed those clad in the pink uniform of perhaps the most exceptional football athlete in history.
Messi did not receive resounding applause when he was in possession of the ball. As a matter of fact, at one juncture when he fell to the turf late in the encounter and was not awarded a free-kick, a barrage of jeers arose from numerous attendees in the LA Coliseum.
“No, no, no I didn’t observe anything,” Mascherano stated after the game regarding whether his captain appeared incensed by the officiating rulings, or the overall outcome. “The reality is that the game concluded, and then I proceeded to the changing area.”
Subsequent to scores by Denis Bouanga and Nathan Ordaz that cemented a 3-0 defeat for Miami, Messi promptly swapped shirts with Bouanga once the concluding whistle sounded, and then hastily departed the pitch ahead of others.
Hence, following a single defeat, is it premature to become alarmed about Messi’s Miami?
“The reality is that they defeated us unequivocally, that is the undeniable fact,” Mascherano stated subsequently. “I believe it’s frequently challenging to rationalize when you lose 3-0, but my preliminary assessment instills in me the sense that the outcome was rather deceptive. In its progression, the game did not present a substantial disparity.”
“As members of the technical team, we must scrutinize the match, beyond merely the outcome, because if we exclusively concentrate on the score, we are basing choices solely on victory or defeat. I believe that within the game, we observed elements of our desired gameplay, which we must refine.”
Messi will need to enhance his performance, but in his defense, we shouldn’t overreact to this minor setback after his inaugural match of the season. Mascherano lately declared that the 38-year-old was sufficiently fit to rejoin complete squad drills, yet the attacker had only lately been recuperating from a thigh muscle injury, so it’s not a significant surprise that he was slightly lacking in sharpness.
Questioning Messi’s capabilities is a misguided endeavor, and he did not deliver an altogether subpar performance on Saturday. Indeed, he executed several menacing deliveries that ought to have resulted in a minimum of one score for Miami, and also managed to advance the ball effectively at times.
It was a reasonable display, but satisfactory is not the standard anticipated from Messi, particularly in a World Cup season. It’s excessively early to form any enduring conclusions, but should the narrative remain unaltered in the next month or so, inquiries will begin to surface.
“He shall determine, and we will back any decision he makes,” Argentina’s head coach Lionel Scaloni remarked in December regarding Messi’s potential participation in the World Cup. “Fundamentally, all appears to be progressing favorably, but half a year represents a considerable duration. Ample time remains.”
With four months remaining, time is running out.