LOS ANGELES — After LAFC’s third goal on Saturday night sent the crowd of over 75,600 into a frenzy at the LA Coliseum, a fan wearing an Argentina jersey dashed onto the field, eagerly making a beeline for Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi.
This is a familiar scene at any event featuring the 2022 World Cup winner; however, the celebratory music playing was not in his honor, as Miami was trailing 3-0. In Messi’s inaugural official match of 2026 with the defending MLS Cup champions, the opening chapters of a Hollywood narrative for him in another World Cup year did not unfold as expected.
Leading up to Saturday’s highly anticipated MLS opening-weekend match against Son Heung-min’s LAFC, there were concerns about Messi’s participation due to a hamstring injury sustained during Miami’s preseason friendly in February.
At 38 years old, it was reasonable to question not just his start to the MLS season, but also whether this might indicate issues for the upcoming World Cup. After all, Messi has yet to fully commit to this summer’s tournament with Argentina and has openly discussed fitness concerns.
“I want to be there. To feel good and to play an important role in helping my national team, if I am there,” Messi stated back in October. “I will assess it on a day-to-day basis as I begin preseason next year with Inter [Miami] and see if I can really be at 100%. I’m eager for the World Cup.”
yet, despite Miami head coach Javier Mascherano confirming on Friday that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was “training at the same level as the rest of the team all week,” Miami’s No. 10 appeared off his game against LAFC.
In the first 10 minutes, Messi’s touch seemed surprisingly imprecise, as did his passing timing. While his distribution did improve eventually, he was quite unlucky not to register an assist; however, he failed to hit the target even once.
Messi wasn’t the sole player struggling. Whether adjusting to new striker Germán Berterame up front, or the captain having a less-than-stellar game, Miami struggled to gain traction until LAFC took a 1-0 lead with David Martínez’s goal assisted by Son.
The 33-year-old South Korean international has his ambitions for the World Cup after leaving Tottenham Hotspur last year, and it was striking to see how many LAFC fans — many donning jerseys with Son’s name — outnumbered those in the pink kit of arguably the greatest soccer player ever.
Messi did not receive resounding applause when he had possession. In fact, late in the game, he fell to the ground and did not receive a foul, prompting a chorus of boos from numerous supporters in the LA Coliseum.
“No, no, no, I didn’t see anything,” Mascherano replied post-match when asked if Messi seemed upset about the refereeing or the result. “The truth is that the match ended and then I went into the locker room.”
After goals from Denis Bouanga and Nathan Ordaz sealed a 3-0 defeat for Miami, Messi promptly exchanged jerseys with Bouanga at the final whistle and quickly departed the field.
So, after one loss, is it too soon to panic about Messi’s time in Miami?
“The reality is they beat us fair and square, that’s the truth,” Mascherano said afterward. “It’s often hard to explain a 3-0 loss, but my initial assessment suggests the result was somewhat misleading. Throughout the game, there wasn’t that much difference.”
“As coaching staff, we need to analyze the game, not just the result, because if we focus solely on the outcome, we risk making decisions based on wins or losses alone. We observed elements of our desired style of play that we need to enhance.”
While Messi does need to improve, it is essential to remember that this is just his first game of the year, and there’s no need to overreact. Mascherano recently indicated that the 38-year-old was healthy enough for full-team training; considering he was recovering from a hamstring injury, it’s not surprising he was slightly off pace.
Questioning Messi’s capabilities is a misguided approach, and his performance on Saturday wasn’t entirely poor. He made several dangerous passes that could have resulted in at least one goal for Miami and occasionally advanced the ball effectively.
It was a decent performance, but mediocrity is not what one expects from Messi, particularly in a World Cup year. though it is premature to make any long-term conclusions, if the storyline does not change in the coming month, questions may arise.
“He will decide, and we will support whatever he chooses,” stated Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni in December regarding Messi’s World Cup availability. “Overall, everything is going well, but six months is a long time; there’s still time.”
With four months remaining, the clock is ticking.
