Messi in Charlotte? Inter Miami star plans to play Saturday in regular-season finale
UPDATE 2: It’s Friday at 10 a.m., and it’s looking more and more promising that Lionel Messi will play on Bank of America Stadium’s turf Saturday night. The left-footed superstar is traveling with the team to Charlotte, a team assistant coach told Michelle Kauffman of The Miami Herald.
UPDATE 1: As of Thursday at noon, Lionel Messi still appears likely to play in Charlotte FC’s regular-season finale on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Bank of America Stadium. As Michelle Kauffman of The Miami Herald reported after the Charlotte FC-Inter Miami draw on Wednesday: Messi and Inter Miami coach Tata Martino will confer after training Thursday to see if he’ll be available for Saturday.
Martino’s quote from Thursday, in full: “I saw Leo’s interview, saw what he said, but I just had time to say hello to him (Wednesday) and we have not had time to talk,” Martino said. “The most important thing is the 90 minutes he played (for Argentina), that he felt well and played confidently and not worried about his injury. Sometimes your head plays games with you after injuries. Thursday we will see if he is also ready to play Saturday.”
The original story on Messi’s likelihood of playing on Saturday night, which is updated through Wednesday evening, is below.
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Lionel Messi, the global soccer star whose availability for his lone appearance in Charlotte Saturday night had been very much in question, indicated Tuesday night that he planned to play against Charlotte FC.
In Peru, Messi played in a 2026 World Cup qualifier for Argentina on Tuesday, scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory. Afterward, he said of his upcoming schedule, per an ESPN report translating his words in a sideline interview from Spanish into English:
“I will train, I will play our upcoming match (against Charlotte FC) and I will try to get here (to the national team) in the best possible way for November. After that, I will enjoy the holidays in Argentina. It’s the first time that I am going to have more days off in December, with the holidays, with peace of mind, with my people. In January, I will return again to do preseason. Start from scratch and prepare as best as possible as always.”
What does that mean? It means that, barring a last-minute change of heart, Messi is figuring on playing Saturday in Charlotte.
Fans certainly would like that, and a lot of them are coming. A Charlotte FC club spokesperson said Wednesday approximately 60,000 tickets have already been sold for the game. Bank of America Stadium seats around 74,000 at full capacity, and Charlotte FC had already planned to try to sell the entire stadium out for this game rather than just the lower bowl. Tickets remain available through Ticketmaster starting at $50 apiece for the upper level.
Charlotte FC and Messi’s Inter Miami FC squad face off in two consecutive Major League Soccer games this week. The first was Wednesday night, and the teams played to a 2-2 draw in Miami. Charlotte FC held a 2-1 lead late, but Inter Miami scored the tying goal in the 84th minute. The second is Charlotte FC’s final home game, at 6 p.m. Saturday in Bank of America Stadium.
Messi didn’t play Wednesday night, instead watching the game in Miami in street clothes. This was expected, since he had played 90 minutes the night before and then traveled from Peru on Wednesday.
An appearance by Messi in Charlotte Saturday — still not guaranteed, of course, but suddenly much more promising — would be a boon for Charlotte FC. Messi, 36, often increases crowds by the tens of thousands when he plays because of his skill and worldwide celebrity. He is one of the most famous athletes in the world, but has never played in a game of any type in Charlotte.
Messi has been hurt and had either been sidelined or come off the bench for the past four weeks due to what has been described sometimes as a muscle problem, sometimes as a leg injury and sometimes as fatigue. But he started Tuesday night for Argentina. Miami is out of the playoff race; Charlotte FC remains in it with one game to go, but must win Saturday against Inter Miami and also get some help from some of the teams above them in the standings because of Wednesday night’s draw. Had Charlotte FC been able to win both games against Inter Miami this week, Charlotte FC would have been guaranteed a playoff berth. Now, however, their playoff destiny is no longer in their own hands.
It’s worth noting that Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino told local reporters Tuesday, before Messi spoke Tuesday night, that all of his players will be evaluated for health reasons on Thursday. He added that the fact Miami can’t make the playoffs will factor into Saturday’s personnel decisions.
Also worth noting: Charlotte FC would actually have a better chance to win Saturday if Messi doesn’t play. In 13 appearances for Miami, Messi has scored 11 goals and generally been electrifying. But not playing would deprive many thousands of ticket buyers their first chance to see Messi play in person.
Alex Zietlow contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 18, 2023 at 7:49 AM.
