Lionel Messi suffered an hamstring injury during Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup penalty shootout win over Club Necaxaleaving the field in the 11th minute and heading directly into the locker room at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Messi came into contact with Necaxa’s Raúl Sánchez and Alexis Peña when dribbling into the box, before stumbling to the ground and slamming the pitch in frustration. The Inter Miami captain attempted to walk it off for a couple of minutes but ultimately sought medical attention and left the game.
Federico Redondo took Messi’s place in the lineup.
“Leo felt a discomfort in his hamstring,” Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano said after the game. “We won’t know the extent of the injury until tomorrow. He probably has something wrong. It might not be that serious because he wasn’t in pain, but he did feel discomfort.”
Messi has dealt with numerous hamstring injuries throughout his career and has missed time over the past couple of seasons dealing with various leg injuries — the most recent issue was with his left adductor, which sidelined him for a pair of Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers earlier this year.
Before kickoff Saturday night, Messi had featured in 30 games for Inter Miami in 2025 across all tournaments, including the Concacaf Champions Cup, the Club World Cup, Leagues Cup and the Major League Soccer regular season.
In MLS alone, Messi has 18 goals and nine assists for the Herons.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
