On November 11, Messi returned to the Argentina national team to play the last two matches of 2024 in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The 37-year-old star has been completely silent since Inter Miami’s shocking defeat in the MLS Cup.
Messi comes to watch the young players of Inter Miami Academy
To digest Inter Miami’s bitter defeat to Atlanta United with a score of 2-3 on November 10 and an early exit from the MLS Cup, ending the dream of winning the most prestigious title in the US professional soccer league in 2024. Messi was seen appearing on the training ground watching the young players of the club’s academy compete just 1 day later. He kept completely silent after the shock of his team’s early exit.
According to journalist Gaston Edul of TyC Sports channel: “Messi will take advantage of the day off to watch and support his sons playing for the Inter Miami Academy teams. After that, he will soon join the Argentina team to prepare for the away match against Paraguay (at 6:30 a.m. on November 15).
The Argentina team will start training this week with about 20 players. From November 12, all 28 players will be present. The day before the match, the team will fly to Paraguay.
Argentina’s match against Paraguay, followed by a home match against Peru at 7am on November 20, both in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America, will be Messi’s final matches of the year. After that, he and Inter Miami were eliminated early from the MLS Cup in the first round.
Before that, Messi had just returned to play for the Argentina national team in the matches in October, including a 1-1 draw with Venezuela and a 6-0 win over Bolivia. In the win over Bolivia, Messi contributed a hat-trick.
At Inter Miami, Messi played a total of 25 matches in 2024, scoring 23 goals and providing 13 assists in all competitions. He helped the club win 14 matches, draw 7 and lose 4, in the matches he played. Won the MLS Supporters’ Shield with a record number of points (74 points). This title is awarded to the team with the best performance after the scoring round with 34 matches.
Thanks to that, Inter Miami won the CONCACAF Champions Cup and Club World Cup 2025 spots. But the biggest goal of winning the MLS Cup had to be put on hold, and wait for the 2025 season.
Messi and Inter Miami are cursed with the ‘Supporters’ Shield’
According to AS (Spain), the fact that Messi and Inter Miami were eliminated early in the first round of the MLS Cup despite having previously won the Supporters’ Shield convincingly is not something new in American football.
“There have been 10 times in 29 MLS seasons, including three times in the last five years alone, that Supporters’ Shield winners have failed to advance far in the MLS Cup playoffs. Messi and Inter Miami are just the latest victims,” AS stressed.
Meanwhile, just over a third of Supporters’ Shield winners have made it past the first round of the playoffs, only to be eliminated early. Only eight teams in MLS history have won the Supporters’ Shield and then gone on to win the MLS Cup. The last was Los Angeles FC in 2022. Before that, Toronto FC in 2017, according to AS .
“Therefore, the Supporters’ Shield title is like a curse for American teams, when they try to win the MLS Cup in the same season, they are rarely as successful as expected. Messi and Inter Miami will have to try harder in the 2025 season. This is also the last year of Messi’s contract registered with MLS. Whether this famous player will activate the extension clause with Inter Miami or not is still open,” said AS .
