Lionel Messi Returns to Inter Miami Action After Emotional Argentina Farewell to Face DC United

Lionel Messi returns to club duties with Inter Miami in MLS following his final match for the Argentina national team, where he concluded a legendary 21-year international career. His immediate focus is helping Inter Miami snap a five-match winless streak in Major League Soccer (MLS) when they host DC United on Saturday.

Inter Miami currently hold a 12-5-10 record with 46 points, placing them third in the Eastern Conference despite being tied in points with New England, who hold the tiebreaker with 14 wins. Meanwhile, DC United stand at 6-8-12 with 30 points in 11th place, trailing the final playoff spot in the conference by three points.

Inter Miami captured the Campeones Cup on September 16 during the debut match of recently hired coach Kily Gonzalez, but have since drawn with San Diego and suffered a 2-1 defeat at Columbus last Sunday. Messi continues to shine this season with 21 goals and 13 assists in league play while pursuing his third consecutive MLS MVP award, though Miami requires broader squad contributions after securing only one victory in their last 10 league fixtures.

“Leo is a person who every day conveys it and passes it on to his teammates, and he demands from all of us that you have to be at 100% in every way,” Kily Gonzalez stated on Friday.

DC United enter the matchup seeking to end their own three-month winless run and secure their first victory since September 9. In their previous encounter on March 7 in Baltimore, Inter Miami claimed a 2-1 victory featuring goals from Messi and Rodrigo De Paul.

Earlier on Tuesday, Messi delivered a stellar performance for Argentina, contributing one goal and two assists in a 3-0 friendly match against Benin. The 39-year-old bid farewell before a crowd of over 85,000 supporters at Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, concluding his historic tenure as the nation’s most-capped player with 208 appearances and its all-time leading goalscorer.