Inter Miami will be Lionel Messi’s final team.
The global superstar and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner revealed that the MLS club would be his “last club” in an interview with ESPN Argentina while admitting that “there’s not a lot of time left” in Messi’s career.
Messi made the jump to the United States last summer when he left Paris Saint-Germain for Inter Miami, marking the first time the 36-year-old soccer icon had played outside Europe in 20 years.
“I’ve done this all of my life; I love playing ball. I enjoy the practices and the day-to-day, the games. Yeah, there’s a bit of fear that it’s all ending. It’s always there. It was a difficult step leaving Europe to come here [Miami],” Messi told ESPN.
The Inter Miami superstar, who will turn 37 later this month, told the outlet that helping his native Argentina win the 2022 World Cup in Qatar helped give him a new perspective on his career.
“The fact we won the World Cup helped, it helped a lot, to see things in another way,” Messi continued. “But I try not to think about it. I try to enjoy it. I do that more now because I’m aware that there’s not a lot of time left. So I have a good time with the club, being lucky having good teammates and friends at my side.
“I enjoy my time with the national team, where I also have good friends, too, and a lot. I enjoy those small details that I know I’ll miss when I stop playing.”
Messi is under contract with Inter Miami through the 2025 MLS season and has been scoring at a goal-per-game pace this year.
He has 12 goals and 13 assists in 12 contests in 2024 for Miami, which currently leads the race for the Supporters’ Shield.
Inter Miami took the Leagues Cup championship in 2023 and now seems destined to make a run for an MLS title this season.
But the Inter Miami jersey seems like it may be the last club one that Messi will wear.
“Yes. I think so, yes. Right now I think it’s going to be my last club, yes,” he said in the interview, according to The Athletic.
The Argentine will compete for his country in this summer’s Copa America that’s being hosted in the U.S.
He played limited minutes in Argentina’s 1-0 win over Ecuador on Sunday in Chicago.
Messi and Argentina will start Copa America on June 20 against Canada.
He is expected to play in a friendly against Guatemala on Friday at Commanders Field.
While this year will likely be Messi’s final time playing in the Copa America — the next one isn’t until 2028 — he has left the door open to playing in the 2026 World Cup which will take place in the United States, along with Canada and Mexico.
He has not made a decision yet on whether he will play and told InfoBae in a recent interview that it would depend on how he feels.
“How I am physically and knowing whether I’m at the level to be able to compete and help my team-mates,” Messi told InfoBae, according to The Athletic. “There is still a long time until the tournament, but it goes quickly.
“I don’t know how I will be in that moment and if I feel I will be at the level to help my team-mates.”
