After his Inter Miami side has been officially eliminated from playoffs, many pundits and spectators have been predicting Lionel Messi, also known as La Pulga, to think about a sensational return to Spanish La Liga side Barcelona or joining the Saudi Pro League on loan during the Major League Soccer’s offseason. However, Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has ruled out about the Argentina national team captain’s chances of returning to his boyhood club or leaving America for his arch-nemesis Cristiano Ronaldo’s oil-rich league in Saudi, since his primary focuses for the remainder of this year are all about Inter Miami and La Albiceleste.
La Pulga Will Not Play Another Competitive Game for Inter Miami Until February 2024?
Since losing Messi to injury during the game against Toronto FC, Inter Miami struggled to fill the big boots left by La Pulga and proceeded to lose three games and draw twice in the five following matches in all competitions. The poor run halted Messi’s amazing start to his professional club career at America, as his Inter Miami side has been eliminated from playoff contention with a single-digit win total and 33 points in 32 matches in this 2023 Major League Soccer Season.
Although Inter Miami still have to face Charlotte FC twice in the league for the final two matches of the year, the former Barcelona and PSG man will likely only feature the second game of this stretch, as the 36-year-old La Pulga is currently occupied with international duties at the Argentine squad. La Pulga’s decision to leave Inter Miami temporarily will allow him to join the defending FIFA World Cup champions to face Paraguay and Peru as the first steps of their title defence campaign in 2026. La Albiceleste are currently second in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers after two group matches, only trailing behind rivals Brazil on goal difference.
La Pulga’s country is one of six co-hosts for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, after FIFA announced that three opening matches of the quadrennial tournament will take place at South American countries namely Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the first FIFA World Cup in Uruguay 1930. The three official co-hosts of the 2030 FIFA World Cup are Spain, Portugal and Morocco, meaning the 48-team competition is the first edition in history where it will be played across multiple continents (Europe, America and Africa). This article has covered all the stories about the 2030 FIFA World Cup thus far, check it out right away!
Inter Miami have been eliminated from the MLS playoffs ⛔️🇺🇸
After their October 21st match, Inter Miami will NOT play another MLS game until late February.
Since Messi’s debut, Inter Miami only won one of the six games he missed and only lost one of the 13 he’s played in. pic.twitter.com/VxbvSMILcf
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 8, 2023
Messi’s Future Schedule Looks Like This:
La Pulga’s decision to not complete a loan move back to his boyhood club Barca or the Saudi Pro League was confirmed by football expert Balague, who said: “Messi will have around one month holiday, like other footballers. So forget any move to Saudi or similar.” After the loss to Eastern Conference’s first seed FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami manager Tata Martino had also addressed rumours of La Pulga moving back to the Catalan Giants, and the former Barcelona and Argentina manager mentioned that he is not aware of the situation, thus cannot provide any information on whether if La Pulga does want to return to Barcelona at this moment.
That being said, let us now take a look at what the near future holds for the 36-year-old Inter Miami and Argentina captain. In October 2023, Messi is part of Lionel Scaloni’s 34-man that will be face Paraguay and Peru, but since the second game is on 18th October, it would be impossible for La Pulga to feature in Inter Miami’s game the next day, meaning he is only in contention of facing Charlotte FC away a few days later. Should Pulga miss both of Inter Miami’s games in October, he will not play another competitive match for the club until February next year, where the new MLS Season begins.
For the following month of November, we are bound to see Messi in action for La Albiceleste twice, both against former FIFA World Cup champions in the South American region, Uruguay and Brazil, in Matchdays 5 and 6 of the qualifying round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, before he travels to Asia for Inter Miami’s tour in the region. These games will conclude La Pulga’s club and country schedule in the calendar year of 2023, as he will be embarking on a five-week holiday, before the preseason of the 2024 MLS Season takes place.
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Argentina’s 34-Man Squad in October 2023
Another 33 players will be joining Messi in Argentine manager Scaloni’s huge 34-man La Albiceleste side in October’s games against Paraguay and Peru in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in the CONMEBOL, they are:
Goalkeepers: Juan Musso (Atalanta BC), Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa), Walter Benítez (PSV Eindhoven) and Franco Armani (Club Atlético River Plate).
Defenders: Nahuel Molina (Atlético Madrid), Germán Pezzella (Real Betis Balompié), Gonzalo Montiel (Nottingham Forest FC), Juan Foyth (Villarreal CF), Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur), Nicolás Tagliafico (Olympique Lyonnais), Nicolás Otamendi (S.L. Benfica), Lucas Esquivel (Club Athletico Paranaens), Lucas Martínez (ACF Fiorentina), Marco Pellegrino (AC Milan) and Marcos Acuña (Sevilla FC).
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes (AS Roma), Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético Madrid), Guido Rodríguez (Real Betis Balompié), Facundo Buonanotte (Brighton & Hove Albion), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Bruno Zapelli (Club Athletico Paranaens) and Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham Hotspur).
Forwards: Lucas Beltrán (ACF Fiorentina), Nicolás González (ACF Fiorentina), Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan), Julián Álvarez (Manchester City), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF), Carlos Alcaraz (Southampton FC), Thiago Almada (Atlanta United FC), Paulo Dybala (AS Roma), Facundo Farías (Inter Miami CF) and Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla FC).
