Messi asks – Lionel Messi asked to be substituted in the 73rd minute of Inter Miami’s final MLS match before the 2026 World Cup break, after appearing to feel something in his left leg. The early exit, in a heavy downpour, has raised new questions about his fitness as Arge
Lionel Messi left Inter Miami’s final MLS match before the league’s long summer break for the 2026 World Cup, asking for a substitution in the 73rd minute and heading straight for the locker room.
The moment stood out because it wasn’t how he typically closes out games. In a second half doused by heavy rain. the 38-year-old appeared to feel something in his left leg. touching the back of it as play continued. Moments earlier, he had made a run in the 69th minute, stopping before he entered the penalty area.
As he walked toward the Inter Miami bench while the match went on, he spoke with staff before being replaced by Mateo Silvetti shortly after the 73rd-minute mark.
Inter Miami manager Guillermo Hoyos said after the match that he hadn’t been able to speak with Messi and didn’t yet have a formal report. “We still don’t have information about this, but soon we’ll have it. He’s tired,” Hoyos said in a news conference. “Fatigue. He was tired. The field was heavy, right?. When faced with doubt, you always try not to take risks.”.
That explanation offered little certainty, and in the days before a World Cup build-up, uncertainty can feel heavier than the rain that affected the field.
This was the final Inter Miami match before MLS takes a long break for the World Cup. which will be held in North America this summer. Messi is expected to join Argentina’s national team as it prepares to defend the 2022 World Cup title. but his early exit immediately sharpened concerns about his fitness—especially given how central he remains to Argentina.
Messi rarely is substituted from matches. In the MLS season, he played all 90 minutes in the 13 previous matches he featured in. He also went the full 90 in both Concacaf Champions Cup contests, plus one of Argentina’s March friendly games. In another March friendly, a win over Mauritania, he played just one half.
The match itself was high drama. Inter Miami rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to defeat the Philadelphia Union 6-4, with Messi registering an assist in the comeback. The 10 total goals scored between both teams made it the highest-scoring match of the MLS season thus far.
The figures were loud, but the timing was louder: Messi’s run ended with him stopping short of the penalty area, then he gestured to his left leg and returned to the bench—followed by a substitution less than five minutes later.
After the MLS break begins, Argentina’s schedule offers a clearer picture of how quickly the situation resolves. Argentina plays Honduras in a June 6 friendly and Iceland on June 9. Its World Cup opener is June 16 against Algeria at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
For now, Inter Miami has no formal update to share on what caused the discomfort or what it means for the next step in Messi’s tournament run. Hoyos said information would come “soon,” but by the time friendlies arrive, there may be less room to wait on answers.
Lionel Messi Inter Miami MLS Philadelphia Union 2026 World Cup Argentina national team Guillermo Hoyos Mateo Silvetti Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium Algeria Honduras friendly Iceland friendly
Messi always hurt now? smh.
I read “left leg” and immediately thought injury conspiracy lol. Heavy rain or not, you’d think they’d just let him finish.
Wait so he asked to come out in the 73rd minute because the field was heavy… but then the coach says tired. So is it like fake or just normal soccer stuff? Also wouldn’t World Cup break be exactly when you rest him anyway?
This is gonna freak people out but honestly it sounds like he was just being careful. If he touched his leg the back of it that’s usually something, right? And the coach saying “we don’t have info” is like every team PR answer ever. I swear every time the World Cup comes around someone “doesn’t know” yet. Mateo Silvetti stepped in and that’s it, meanwhile everybody panicking like it’s season-ending.