Messi did not play after previously being listed as questionable with a shin injury.

The injury happened in a 2-2 draw at Nashville in the CONCACAF Champions Cup last week. Messi went to contest a pass from Nashville’s Lukas Macnaughton, who appeared to step on the 36-year-old’s calf and cause his left ankle to twist. Trainers tended to Messi as he writhed in pain on the pitch in the 77th minute, but he remained in the match.

Messi left that match with a bruise, but head coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino said Sunday the team and Messi had previously agreed that he would rest against Montreal — no matter what happened at Nashville.

Martino has been tasked with finding ways to manage Messi’s workload and recovery as he has played every minute of Inter Miami’s first four games of the season.

Resting the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner makes sense — Inter Miami will play two more games over the next six days. That’s four games in a ten-day stretch. And Messi was called up to represent the Argentinian national team in a pair of Copa America warm-up matches on March 22 and 26. Inter Miami also has a match at New York on March 23.

“We all know Leo,” Inter Miami assistant coach Javier Morales said during a media availability Saturday, “he’s a player who wants to play every game. I think we will have a conversation with him, see how he is and try to decide what is best for him.”

Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets did not start Sunday but came on as second-half substitutes. Suarez, like Messi, had previously started all four of Inter Miami’s games.

“They asked me ten days ago if we were going to do a rotation,” Martino said curtly when asked about resting Messi, as well as the reasoning behind Sunday’s lineup. “Today we did a rotation. There’s no other answer.”

Leonarda Campana scored the tying goal for Miami in the 71st minute after Montreal took a 1-0 lead early in the first half on a header from Fernando Álvarez. Off a cross from Lawson Sunderland, Campana injected life into the crowd at Chase Stadium when he sent a header into the bottom left corner of the net.

But in a game that was one of Inter Miami’s sloppiest of the season, Montreal took a two-goal lead with scores from Matías Cóccaro and Sunusi Ibrahim in less than a five-minute span.

“I think we should have won the game,” Martino said. “We merited winning the game. What worries me is that we are a team that is not defending as hard as we should.”

It was Inter Miami’s first loss of the young season, despite having chances down the stretch. Jordi Alba sent a left-footed shot from outside the box into the top left corner to make it 3-2.

Inter Miami will face Nashville again on Wednesday in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 matchup.

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Messi came off the bench for the final half hour, energized his teammates and probably had the best chance of the match in the 80th with two point-blank shots that were both stopped by the Vissel Kobe defense.

After a 0-0 draw in regulation, the match went to penalty kicks and Vissel won the shootout 4-3. Messi did not take a penalty, however, which brought jeers from the crowd of 28,614 in Tokyo’s National Stadium, which seats 68,000.

But it wasn’t close to the level of booing that broke out in Hong Kong after Messi stayed on the bench for the entire game with a groin injury. Some fans demanded refunds.

The Argentina star was contrite in a rare press conference in Tokyo on Tuesday as he addressed the public relations disaster. He had said he wasn’t sure whether he would be fit enough to play in Tokyo, and left fans guessing until he started warming up in the second half — drawing loud cheers from the crowd.

“After practice on Tuesday in the evening, he (Messi) said he felt good and we agreed he would play 30 minutes,” Inter Miami coach Gerardo Martino said. “We are very content now after the game is over because Messi looked very comfortable.”

He did not say why Messi did not take a penalty.

Vissel hit the post twice in the first half and had by far the best chances in a match it largely dominated.

The match in Tokyo wrapped up Inter Miami’s global promotional tour — stretching from El Salvador to Dallas into Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong and ending in Tokyo.

Inter won only one of the six games. The Miami preseason wraps up on Feb. 16 in Florida against Newell’s Old Boys, Messi’s boyhood club from Rosario, Argentina. Many expect him to finish his career there.

Inter Miami is loaded with former Barcelona players including Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets.

Andres Iniesta, another former Barcelona star, played several seasons in Japan with Vissel Kobe and spoke briefly to the crowd before the match.

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The team made the announcement on Saturday.

Farías was hurt about 20 minutes into the second half of Friday’s game at El Salvador. He had replaced Messi at halftime of the match, which ended in a 0-0 draw.

The match against El Salvador’s national team was the first of seven preseason contests — in five different countries — for Inter Miami. The team plays at FC Dallas on Monday, then leaves for Saudi Arabia for matches against Al-Hilal and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr on Jan. 29 and Feb. 1.

From there, the team travels to a match in Hong Kong on Feb. 4, Japan on Feb. 7 and back home for a preseason finale against the Argentinian side Newell’s Old Boys — Messi’s hometown team — on Feb. 15.

The 21-year-old Farías signed with Inter Miami last summer through the 2026 season, the Argentinian’s arrival coming a few weeks after Messi decided to come to Major League Soccer and sign with the team. There are options for 2027 and 2028 as part of Farías’ deal.

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Facundo Farias added the third goal for Miami (8-14-4), which remains 14th in the Eastern Conference table.

The match was a test for Miami, which is 11-0-1 in cup and MLS matches since Messi’s arrival with the club. He already has 11 goals and eight assists with the team. Miami was winless in 11 straight before Messi’s debut on July 21.

He scored the winning goal in Argentina’s 1-0 victory over Ecuador on Thursday and has another national team commitment against Bolivia on Tuesday.

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner is scheduled to return to Miami for its next league match at Atlanta FC next Saturday.

The lack of Messi was evident in the stands. Although the crowd at DRV PNK Stadium sang throughout the match and cheered loudly after each goal, there were noticeable pockets of empty seats.

In addition to Messi, seven other Miami players were called by their national teams for qualifiers and missed the match.

Campana’s second goal in the 45th minute snapped a 1-1 tie. DeAndre Yedlin dribbled deep into the right wing area and centered a pass to a leaping Campana who headed it past Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia.

Farias made it 3-1 with his goal in the 60th minute. Sergio Busquets’ free kick from midfield found an open Farias, who dribbled unchallenged into the penalty area and beat Melia with a right-footed shot from 15 yards.

Alan Pulido got Sporting KC (8-12-8) within a goal in the 78th minute.

Miami faced an early deficit, when Dániel Sallói scored nine minutes into the match. Goalkeeper Drake Callender deflected Felipe Gutierrez’s 25-yard shot but failed to clear it. Salloi found the loose ball on the edge of the 6-yard box and converted with a right-footed shot inside the right post.

Miami tied it on Campana’s penalty kick in the 25th minute. Melia fouled Campana near the 6-yard box when he struck the Miami striker around the neck area. Campana beat Melia with a shot to his left.

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Forty-eight years after Pelé joined the North American Soccer League’s New York Cosmos in an effort to jumpstart soccer in the United States, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner entered in the 60th minute.

Jordi Alba made an acrobatic leap to blindly center Sergio Busquet’s cross back pass to Messi. The 36-year-old star dribbled through three defenders and side-footed the ball to Benjamin Cremaschi. The 18-year-old American one-touched the ball back and Messi sprinted toward goal and let it bounce in off his left foot from in front.

Messi has 11 goals in nine games for Miami in all competitions.

The match drew the Red Bulls’ first home sellout this season, and resale tickets were listed for over $1,000 in the week leading to the game.

Messi followed David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimović to a far-more stable league that hopes to one day challenge the more established American sports in popularity.

Chants of “We Want Messi!” began in the sixth minute and a loud “Mes-si!” “Mes-si!” reverberated throughout in the 35th. Diego Gómez, a 20-year-old Paraguayan forward among four Miami starters making MLS debuts, scored in the 37th minute.

Fan focus was on Messi when he started to warm up three minutes into the second half, and a roar erupted when Martino signaled for him to take off his pinny and head to the center stripe.

Messi played his first Miami game on July 21 in the Leagues Cup and scored 10 goals in seven games in that competition and a U.S. Open Cup semifinal.

Miami had not won a league match since May 13 against New England and had just one road victory, on April 29 at Columbus.

The streets around Red Bull Arena were packed 2 1/2 hours before the match, filled with dozens of scalpers and people selling unlicensed Messi jerseys. A simulcast of the game was scheduled on a videoboard in Times Square. About half wore Messi jerseys from Argentina, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Miami.

Miami scored the first goal when Alba, like Messi and Busquets making debuts, took a free kick after a foul by Andrés Reyes and the ball was punched out by goalkeeper Carlos Coronel.

Robert Taylor played the ball wide to Noah Allen, and the 19-year-old defender made a diagonal pass to Gómez, who settled with a touch and put the ball inside the far post with a left foot shot from about 14 yards.

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“That was for the fans. This community is hungry,” Mas said.

Messi’s follow-up performance Tuesday night against Atlanta United in the Leagues Cup showed the impact that one player — the right player — can have on an entire club.

Messi scored twice and had an assist in his first start for Miami, bringing his total to three goals in two games. Inter Miami had a 3-0 lead by halftime, the first such lead in club history.

“There’s going to be a before and after Messi in football for this country,” Mas said.

Miami went on to win 4-0. Messi exited in the 78th minute to a standing ovation, with many in the crowd wearing his No. 10 jersey. Many also headed for the exits themselves once Messi was on the bench.

“With the type of player that he is, it’s justified that this happens,” Miami coach Tata Martino said. “I would have preferred that the public stayed and pay tribute to the entire team, but I can also understand it.”

Miami swept its group and moved on to the round of 32 in the Leagues Cup, in which it will host a to-be-determined opponent.

In the eighth minute, Messi took a pass from his longtime Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets, surged forward and sent a strike off the right post before tapping in his own rebound. Then, in the 22nd minute, Messi put Miami ahead 2-0 off a pass from Robert Taylor.

“Since those two have gotten here, the spirit has changed,” Miami’s DeAndre Yedlin said, referring to Messi and Busquets. “Obviously, guys are really excited. But I think just their presence gives everybody more confidence. And I think also the teams that we’re playing against now have a bit of fear in their eyes. When those two are on the field, you know you’re in for a tough game.”

Messi came off the bench in the 54th minute Friday night in Miami’s first Leagues Cup match against Mexican club Cruz Azul. And he provided a moment fans had hoped for when the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner and World Cup champion for Argentina decided to take his talents to MLS. Messi converted the game-winning free kick in stoppage time in front of a crowd estimated at 21,000.

Yedlin had placed the skipper’s armband on Messi when he checked in on Friday, but Messi entered Tuesday’s match wearing the armband just below his right shoulder.

“He’s my teammate now. He’s our teammate,” Yedlin said. “He’s part of this team and he wants to win like everybody else. And he’s been a joy to be around, obviously not just on the field. He’s obviously an amazing talent but off the field he really helps a lot of the younger guys, even older guys like myself.”

Brazilian midfielder Gregore had been the club’s captain before suffering a foot injury in March.

With Messi rightly commanding much of the attention from Atlanta’s defenders, opportunities opened for other Miami players. Taylor scored in the 44th minute, then made it 4-0 in the 53rd after being set up by Messi.

“There’s times when the coach prepares a certain game in a certain way, but these two players are so good at what they do that they create space,” Martino said about Messi and Busquets.

Goalkeeper Drake Callender preserved the shutout when he stopped a penalty shot by Thiago Almada in the 86th minute.

“There are things that of course after review of the game that we can do way better,” Atlanta coach Gonzalo Pineda said. “I think we also had some chances to score. … We couldn’t capitalize.”

Messi had entered holding hands with the son of hip-hop artist DJ Khaled.

A fan got onto the field as Messi was exiting. The fan sprinted all the way toward Miami’s bench where Messi stood before Martino grabbed the attention of security. The fan was then escorted off the field.

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In only a few hours, they’d fly to South Florida to see superstar Lionel Messi make his Major League Soccer debut with Inter Miami.

“We’re here to see Messi,” Kingston and Wynn said in unison. They arrived at DRV PNK Stadium hours before Inter Miami’s match against Mexican club Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup.

And on Friday night, Messi gave an unforgettable thrill to fans young and old who witnessed his first game, converting a free kick from about 25 yards in the 94th minute to give his new team a 2-1 victory.

Troves of fans, some from as far away as Ecuador and Messi’s native Argentina, bounced around the outskirts of the stadium ahead of Messi’s debut. Some, like Kingston and Wynn, wore black-and-pink Inter Miami jerseys with Messi’s No. 10 on the back. Others wore the 36-year-old’s Argentina jersey. Dozens stood in line for team gear. Even more waited to have their Messi flags and jerseys captured in a photo booth.

Kim Kardashian arrived at the stadium about an hour before the start of the match, with one of her children wearing Messi’s Inter Miami jersey. Serena Williams and LeBron James were there, too, and James greeted Messi before the game.

“It’s insane,” said season ticket holder Christian Zinn, who lives in nearby Parkland and attended the match with his son, Oliver. “We normally come a half hour before the game, and it’s like this. Not two hours before the game. We knew it was going to be crazy.”

Messi and fellow newcomer Sergio Busquets checked into the game in the 54th minute, with phones out all around the stadium to capture the moment. Inter Miami led 1-0 at the time, but Cruz Azul tied it shortly after he checked in, setting up the incredible finish.

After months of speculation, Messi signed a 2 1/2-year contract with the team this past weekend. Tens of thousand of people showed up to see the team introduce Messi Sunday night. Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said online video of the event was viewed 3.5 billion times.

“That’s a gift that Leo has given the sport,” Beckham said. “He’s at the stage of his career where he’s done everything that any soccer player can do in a sport. He’s one of the greatest players if not the greatest player to ever play that game.”

Beckham, an English great who also came to MLS in 2007 after a long career in Europe, said Messi’s move has “raised the bar” for soccer in the United States.

“When I went on the journey in 2007, and when I started my Miami journey ten years ago, my vision was exactly what we saw the moment that Leo announced,” Beckham said. “That’s what I wanted to see for the sport.”

Miami native Carlos Fierro, who said he’s been a Messi fan his whole life, said Messi’s arrival had a similar impact to James’ signing with the Miami Heat in 2010.

“It’s going to be very different because Messi’s that type of player. He’s going to bring the party,” Fierro said. “We saw it in the presentation how loud it got. I’m expecting everything to be loud and fun. Just typical Miami style.”

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So far, it looks like money well spent.

From the you-can’t-make-this-up department, Messi capped the opening night with his new club by delivering the unforgettable. His magical left foot sent a free kick into the upper left corner of the net in the 94th minute Friday night, giving Inter Miami a 2-1 win over Mexican club Cruz Azul in a Leagues Cup match.

“What I saw was the goal,” Messi said in an on-field interview amid the postgame celebration. “I saw the goal. I knew that I had to score.”

He makes it sound so easy. Made it look so easy, too.

The game’s greatest active player — a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner and a World Cup champion — sent the ball over a wall of four Cruz Azul defenders for the winning goal, unquestionably the greatest moment in Inter Miami’s brief history. Fireworks shot into the night sky, and play resumed for roughly a minute before the referee’s whistle blew.

“It’s a movie that we have seen before,” Inter Miami coach Tata Martino said.

Messi was a showman throughout his debut for his Major League Soccer club. He waved at fans while he was seated on the bench. Waved at them while he was warming up. Waved at them while he was actually in the game.

And if that wasn’t enough, he saved his best moment for the end. He watched the ball sail into the net, something he’s done about 800 times before for club and country, then sprinted to the right corner of the field and leaped into the arms of teammates.

The team’s owners — David Beckham, Jorge Mas and Jose Mas — were waiting as he left the pitch; Jorge Mas planted a kiss onto the superstar’s sweat-coated cheek. Some Cruz Azul players stood in silence and just watched; they’ll have a story to tell, too, about how it took an incredible Messi moment to defeat them.

It took Inter Miami four years of planning and two years of actual pursuing to bring Messi to the club.

“Worth it,” Beckham said earlier in the week.

How right he was.

“It’s such a moment for this country,” Beckham said. “It’s such a moment for the league. And it’s a very proud moment for us.”

Nobody even left their seats when the halftime whistle blew. The reason: Messi was on the field. He warmed up for about 5 minutes during intermission with the other reserves before they all left for the locker room.

That’s when the fans, finally, could put their phones down and take a breath. Temporarily, anyway. The wait was officially on: When was Messi coming in? He resumed warmups while the second half was getting under way, jogging around behind the end line near Miami’s supporter section, and fans roared in delight when he gave them a wave.

And about eight minutes into the second half, the answer: It was Messi time.

Messi checked in early in the second half with Inter Miami leading 1-0. He hugged the player he was replacing, midfielder Benjamin Cremaschi, then trotted onto the field as the estimated crowd of 21,000 all seemed to be standing, almost all of them with phones out to chronicle the moment.

Had he missed the free kick, the game would have gone to a penalty shootout. Instead, Messi ended it on his terms.

“It was the last play of the game and I wanted to score so I didn’t go to penalties,” Messi said.

The first Inter Miami goal of the Messi era was scored by Robert Taylor, who took a long cross from Robbie Robinson, moved into the box and sent a low drive off the inside of the far post and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead late in the first half.

Messi leaped from his seat, threw his hands in the air, applauded several times and broke into a wide smile.

Cruz Azul tied the game shortly after Messi checked in and had plenty of chances to take a late lead. But the final act belonged to Messi, a storybook ending if there ever was one.

“It’s common for him, you know,” Martino said. “It looks absolutely normal, but it’s not … we’re speaking about the GOAT.”

It was a gathering of GOATs at Messi’s debut match: LeBron James and Serena Williams were there — like Messi in soccer, they’re in the conversation of “greatest of all time” when it comes to the NBA and tennis. Music legends Gloria and Emilio Estefan showed up, as did Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and Kim Kardashian arrived saying one of her sons had a particular reason why he had to attend.

“He’s so excited to see Messi,” Kardashian said.

Everyone was. James — who knows a thing or two about making a highly celebrated move to Miami, after he joined the Heat in 2010 and won his first two NBA titles in a four-year stay — greeted Messi with a long embrace as the teams took the field. And after the goal, James acknowledged the greatness.

“INCREDIBLE,” James tweeted, with a goat emoji for emphasis.

No matter what, it was a massive night for soccer in the U.S. — Messi making his first Miami appearance while, on the other side of the globe, the U.S. women’s team opened its World Cup title defense in New Zealand by beating Vietnam 3-0.

Messi signed a 2 1/2-year contract that will pay him between $50 million and $60 million annually — and almost certainly more than $1 million per match.

Messi arrived with the team about two hours before game time, dressed in the team colors — pink T-shirt, black shorts. He stopped for a few photos and handshakes as he entered the tunnel leading to the locker room.

As the match started, Messi took his seat and watched his new team, in the all-pink jersey, shorts and socks, start his new era. Almost every seat was filled, many by people wearing newly acquired Miami jerseys with Messi’s name on the back. They chanted his name a few times, waved flags bearing his name and number.

The excitement kept building, all the way to the end. And Messi made sure his new fans went home happy.

“It was very important,” Messi said, “for us to get this win.”

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Inter Miami’s new star wasted no time fitting right in.

The World Cup winner and seven-time Ballon d’Or recipient as the world’s best player took part in a training session with his new Major League Soccer club for the first time on Tuesday, three days after signing a 2 1/2 year contract that’ll pay him between $50 million and $60 million a year.

A helicopter hovered overhead, drones buzzed around the field and about 200 media members lined up toward the back of the complex to get a look at Messi. He, like newly signed Sergio Busquets — also a World Cup winner — went through a welcome tunnel as part of the first practice, which meant jogging past teammates as they lined up and clapped.

Messi’s first match is expected to be Friday, a Leagues Cup contest at home against Cruz Azul. Some tickets are going for as little as $275 or so on the secondary market; some of the very best seats are exceeding $19,000. Prices have been fluctuating quite a bit and likely will continue doing so until game time.

Then again, someone might get front-row tickets for $1. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican candidate for president, has asked backers to “consider making a $1 donation” to get him on the debate stage — saying all such donors would be entered in a chance to be in the front row for Messi’s debut game.

Such is the power of Messi. Inter Miami hasn’t won an MLS match in more than two months; it has gone 0-8-3 in MLS play since beating New England on May 13.

Making the MLS playoffs are a long shot for Miami. But there is hope for other trophies, such as Leagues Cup — a tournament between teams from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX, with both leagues shutting down regular play for the competition — and the U.S. Open Cup.

Inter Miami is in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup; it’ll play Cincinnati in late August. The final of that tournament is in September.

Messi’s decision to play in the U.S. might be the biggest boost ever for American soccer on the pro stage. Some of the game’s biggest names — Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Thierry Henry and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham himself — have come to the U.S. toward the end of their careers, but landing a player still no worse than near the pinnacle of his game and just a few months removed from hoisting a World Cup is simply huge, especially with part of the next World Cup in 2026 set to be played on U.S. soil.

“It shouldn’t be lost on anybody that the timing is right,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said. “Copa America will be here in 2024, Club World Cup will be here in 2025, the World Cup will be here in 2026. This is not a coincidence, right? It’s all part of our continual focus to do everything we can to make our league a league of choice, not just here, but around the world and be part of the conversation.”

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After months — years, even — of speculation, Messi on Wednesday finally revealed his decision to join a Miami franchise that has been led by another global soccer icon, David Beckham, since its inception but has yet to make any real splashes on the field.

That likely will soon change. One of Inter Miami’s owners, Jorge Mas, tweeted out a photo of a darkly silhouetted Messi jersey shortly before the Argentinian great revealed his decision in interviews with Spanish news outlets Mundo Deportivo and Sport.

It was widely believed that Messi eventually would choose to play for Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, following longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo to a nation where some clubs now are funded by the state’s sovereign wealth fund. Going back to Barcelona, a storied franchise where he spent most of his career, was another possibility.

But in the end, he made the call that surprised many. Messi is joining MLS. He said in the interviews Wednesday that some final details still need to be worked out, but that he has made the call to “continue my path” in Miami.

“After winning the World Cup and not being able to return to Barcelona, it was my turn to go to the league of the United States to live football in another way,” Messi said.

He didn’t take the money. He didn’t choose the memories. He picked Miami instead. Messi’s next matches are likely to be exhibitions with Argentina against Australia on June 15 at Beijing and at Indonesia in Jakarta four days later — and then his Inter Miami debut figures to be sometime in July.

“We are pleased that Lionel Messi has stated that he intends to join Inter Miami and Major League Soccer this summer,” read a statement from MLS. “Although work remains to finalize a formal agreement, we look forward to welcoming one of the greatest soccer players of all time to our league.”

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner — the trophy given annually to the world’s best player — makes his move after two years with Paris Saint-Germain. At 35, Messi has nothing left to prove in the game and filled the only significant unchecked box on his resume back in December by leading Argentina to the World Cup title.

Messi has more than 800 goals in his career for club and country, making him one of the greatest scorers in the sport’s history. In more than 17 years of representing Argentina on the international stage, he has scored 102 goals against 38 different national team opponents — 16 of those goals coming on U.S. soil. He scored twice in last year’s World Cup final against France, a match that ended 3-3 with Argentina prevailing 4-2 on penalty kicks.

He has been to the absolute mountaintop of the game. He is a four-time Champions League winner and his 129 goals in the top club competition are second to Ronaldo’s 140. Messi has won 10 La Liga titles and two Ligue 1 championships, seven Copa del Reys and three Club World Cups plus a Copa América and Olympic gold medal for Argentina.

And now he comes to MLS, and a team that is struggling — last place in the Eastern Conference, just a few days removed from the firing of coach Phil Neville (who was hand-picked by Beckham two years ago).

Messi’s decision to play in the U.S. might be the biggest boost ever for American soccer on the pro stage. Some of the game’s biggest names — Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer, Thierry Henry and Beckham himself — have come to the U.S. toward the end of their careers, but landing a player still no worse than near the pinnacle of his game and just a few months removed from hoisting a World Cup is simply huge.

“This is obviously the biggest signing that they’ve brought in,” said Nashville defender Walker Zimmerman, a U.S. national team regular. “It’s kind of reminiscent of Beckham when he came originally. You saw how the league has kind of changed in the 15 years since he arrived, and hopefully 15 years from now we’re seeing all the growth from this addition to the league. I think it’s a great thing. I think it’ll be great for the sport in this country, especially ahead of the 2026 World Cup. And I’m excited to play against him.”

It took months of negotiations with MLS, the Miami ownership, Adidas and even Apple getting involved in a creative pitch to bring Messi to Miami’s pitch. Apple — which is a broadcast partner of MLS — announced Tuesday that it will show a still-untitled four-part documentary series “featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes access to global superstar Lionel Messi. … In his own words, Messi tells the definitive story of his incredible career with the Argentina national football team, providing an intimate and unprecedented look at his quest for a legacy-defining World Cup victory.”

And now, his story will have a Miami chapter.

Inter Miami needed six years from inception to playing its first match, and its first four seasons have been less than stellar.

Messi is joining a team that sits last in the Eastern Conference and just fired its coach. It has made the playoffs in two of its first three seasons but has yet to finish a season with a winning record or even a positive goal differential.

Still, there have been hints for months that Miami remained very much in the Messi sweepstakes. Messi met with Inter Miami co-owner Beckham this spring, and that was shared publicly almost to ensure that everyone knew the sides were still talking. Messi and his family also own several pieces of luxury real estate in South Florida, and — almost as if to suggest something big was coming — the MLS club told fans the only way they could get tickets for the second half of this season was to purchase a season-ticket package.

He’s an enormous draw everywhere on the globe, including Miami. Two days after Argentina won the World Cup, Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry sat on his team’s bench for a game unable to play because of injury. He wore a Messi jersey that night.

Inter Miami still plays home matches in a temporary home in Fort Lauderdale, about 45 minutes north of the site in Miami where the team wants to build a permanent complex.

And even in an area where the population has a serious Latin flavor, and where more people might actually call the sport fútbol than soccer, Inter Miami has struggled to generate the same attention as do the area’s primary pro teams — basketball’s Heat, baseball’s Miami Marlins, football’s Miami Dolphins and hockey’s Florida Panthers.

Messi could change that in an instant. In a flash, he becomes the biggest name in MLS and makes everything Miami does newsworthy.

His decision ends what has been a wild saga. Barcelona made Messi a superstar, but the financial issues that forced the team to letting him go two years ago still remain an issue.

“I heard that they’d have to sell players or lower players’ salaries and the truth is, I didn’t want to go through that,” Messi said Wednesday.

There are no financial issues with Saudi Arabia, and speculation that he would end up there intensified when Messi made an unauthorized trip to the kingdom. PSG suspended him and some fans turned on him, serenading him with jeers toward the end of his season with the French club.

Everyone knew he wouldn’t be back with PSG. Few likely thought he was heading to Miami. But here he is, a move to Miami by a superstar that might even be more shocking than LeBron James arriving to join the Heat 13 years ago.

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