Messi status up in the air for Argentina, Inter Miami games this weekend
Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul are training at the Inter Miami grounds this week, but they are not wearing pink and are not with their club teammates.
They are with Argentina’s national team as it prepares for its friendly match against Venezuela on Friday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
Messi’s face is on billboards and advertisements for the game, but there is a chance the 38-year-old captain will rest, having just played the full 90 minutes in seven Inter Miami games during the past 21 days. Also, Inter Miami has an important league game at home Saturday night against Atlanta United, a game with playoff seed implications.
Unlike other leagues around the world, which take a pause during FIFA windows, Major League Soccer plays through. Although the Venezuela and Inter Miami games are both in South Florida, it is highly unlikely Messi and De Paul would play on back-to-back days.
Losing Messi for Saturday’s game against Atlanta would be big, as he is co-leader in the MLS Golden Boot race with 24 goals this season and leads the team with 17 assists.
“We will make a decision, we will see how he [Messi] and the rest of the players are,” Scaloni said Tuesday, when asked if Messi would be in the lineup against Venezuela.
“We are going to talk to him [Messi] and to the others. The idea is not to risk anyone. These are important games for the national team but there are friendlies. Whoever has a minor problem whether it’s him or someone else, we are not going to take any risks whatsoever.”
Argentina has a second exhibition game scheduled for Monday night in Chicago, but that game was expected to be moved due to escalating clashes between demonstrators and federal agents over immigration enforcement. The Argentine soccer federation is in talks with Inter Miami about the possibility of moving the game to Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
Messi and De Paul are among six Inter Miami players who were called up for national team duty during this FIFA international window, which came at a terrible time for the club. The Inter Miami-Atlanta match was originally scheduled for June 28 but had to be rescheduled because Inter Miami advanced to the Club World Cup Round of 16.
In addition to Messi and De Paul, other Miami players expected to be unavailable for the Atlanta game are Telasco Segovia (Venezuela), Fafa Picault (Haiti), Ian Fray (Jamaica), and Noah Allen (Greece U21).
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano would not confirm that all six players will miss the game Saturday against Atlanta, when asked what his plans were.
“We will manage the best we can,” Mascherano said. “We know we are going to have some absences on Saturday, so we want the players who stayed to be as fresh and ready as possible because obviously, we want to get three points to secure third place and put pressure on Cincinnati heading into the final game.”
Miami sits in third place in the Eastern Conference with two games remaining in the regular season and a game in hand. Miami has 59 points, Cincinnati is in second place with 62 and Philadelphia leads with 66. Charlotte and New York City FC are fourth and fifth with 56 points. The top four in each conference get home field advantage during the playoffs.
Although losing players to their national teams puts Inter Miami at a disadvantage during a critical part of the season, the club is proud to have so many players called up.
“One way or another, it makes us happy to see our players go to their national teams because it shows they are important players and it adds value to our roster and the club.”
One player who might finally see some playing time is forward Allen Obando, who returned to the active roster last week after missing most of the season with upper leg injuries. He scored a goal for Inter Miami’s second team last weekend and will likely be on the first-team roster on Saturday.
Despite the depleted roster, Inter Miami could still put out a strong lineup on Saturday. Available players include Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez, Yannick Bright, Baltasar Rodriguez, Tadeo Allende, Maxi Falcon, Gonzalo Lujan, Tomas Aviles, Marcelo Weigandt, Ryan Sailor, Santi Morales, and goalkeepers Oscar Ustari and Rocco Rios Novo.
Inter Miami was hoping to repeat as Supporters’ Shield champions, but could not catch the Philadelphia Union, which clinched the league’s best record last weekend. Messi and his teammates are now eyeing the only trophy left in reach, the MLS Cup.
“Not winning the Supporters’ Shield hurt, but it’s life, and we need to look at the next goal, which is the MLS Cup,” said midfielder Yannick Bright, who also shared that he is finalizing a new contract with Inter Miami. “We’re going to have a lot of players missing, but everyone is here for a reason and can step up at any time.”
Asked if anything less than winning MLS Cup is a failure for Inter Miami, with its loaded roster, Bright said: “Overall I don’t think it was a bad year. Semifinals of Concacaf [Champions Cup], finals of Leagues Cup, and we did well in Club World Cup. We fell short, but I can promise we will give our everything to bring the MLS trophy home.”
Tickets for Argentina vs. Venezuela (8 p.m. Friday) are available at https://linktr.ee/VMG_Sports. Tickets for Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United (7:30 p.m., Saturday) are available at intermiamicf.com/tickets
This story was originally published October 8, 2025 at 12:58 PM.