Messi set to make Inter Miami debut in Leagues Cup opener against Cruz Azul

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami debut began on the bench.

Messi was not in the starting lineup but was expected to play Friday night when Inter Miami hosted Cruz Azul in a Leagues Cup match at his new home stadium. Team officials said all tickets — about 21,000, in a newly expanded stadium — were sold, though plenty were available for resale in the hours leading up to the match in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

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

He got a hug and shared a few words with LeBron James — another guy 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 — on his way to the bench. Messi took his seat and watched his new team, in the all-pink jersey, shorts and socks, start his new era.

It wasn’t clear how much Messi, a World Cup champion for Argentina and someone who Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham calls the best player ever, would be on the field in his debut. New coach Tata Martino said in recent days he would leave that decision up to Messi, who hasn’t played much of late and is working his way back into match shape.

Messi signed a 2 1/2-year contract with Inter Miami that will pay him between $50 million and $60 million annually — and almost certainly more than $1 million per match. Some fans paid well over $1,000 for tickets to Friday’s match, though the price on the resale market was dropping considerably in the hours before game time.

Messi was introduced to his new home fans on Sunday and trained for the first time as a member of the club Tuesday.

Also not in Friday’s starting lineup: newly acquired Sergio Busquets, a former Messi teammate and another past World Cup winner.

Beckham was on the field about three hours before game time, taking a video with his phone as he scanned the empty seats. Messi jerseys were stocked at the team store inside the stadium, and entrepreneurs were selling unofficial Messi jerseys on the road leading to the venue.

The team was bracing for a gathering of GOATs at Messi’s debut match: James, Serena Williams and Tom Brady — like Messi in soccer, they’re in the conversation of “greatest of all time” when it comes to the NBA, tennis and the NFL — were expected to attend. Kim Kardashian was there, too, saying one of her sons had a particular reason why they had to be there.

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

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

But Inter Miami and MLS found a way to land the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, setting the stage for an unprecedented era for the club that has largely sputtered during its first four seasons.

The Leagues Cup is a tournament between clubs from MLS and Liga MX, the top Mexican league. Cruz Azul won the inaugural version in 2019.

Neither club has enjoyed much success this season. Inter Miami has the fewest points in the MLS standings; Cruz Azul is the only team in the Mexican league yet to record a standings point through the season’s first three matches.