Lionel Messi’s Argentina to play El Salvador at the Linc on March 22

This may be your best chance to see Messi, as he likely won't be with Inter Miami CF when they visit the Union.

Lionel Messi celebrates with the men's World Cup trophy after he led Argentina to soccer's biggest prize in 2022.Read moreMartin Meissner / AP

Published Feb. 22, 2024, 12:22 p.m. ET

Update: Tickets for the game go on sale Thursday, Feb. 29. Click here for more details.

Although Lionel Messi likely won’t visit the Union this year, he might be coming to Philadelphia soon — and in a very big way.

Lincoln Financial Field will host an Argentina-El Salvador exhibition game on March 22, meaning Messi could play not just in town but in the city’s biggest sports venue. The game will surely sell out, not just because of Messi but because of the big Salvadoran expatriate population in the northeast United States.

Argentina, the reigning men’s World Cup champion, was supposed to spend that March period in China. But a controversy erupted in China when Messi went to Hong Kong with Inter Miami earlier this month. He was supposed to play in an exhibition game there, did not suit up because of a muscle injury, then returned to action three days later in a game in Japan.

This sparked outrage in Hong Kong, which China’s government controls, and added a sports-themed chapter to the long-running China-Japan political rivalry. A few days later, Chinese soccer authorities barred Argentina from playing scheduled games there against Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

It proved to be China’s loss, as Argentina soon moved the games to the United States. El Salvador replaces Ivory Coast on the schedule, while the Nigeria game will be June 26 at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

It’s never a guarantee that Messi, or any player, will play in a specific game. But with the Copa América coming up in a few months, the odds are pretty good that he’ll be here. Argentina will also play a Copa warmup game in the U.S. on June 14 against Guatemala at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.

Inter Miami visits the Union the next day and Messi almost certainly will not be there.

In the Copa América, Argentina will face Canada or Trinidad & Tobago on June 20 in Atlanta; Chile on June 25 in East Rutherford, N.J.; and Peru on June 29 in suburban Miami. Argentina’s knockout-round games are likely to be in Houston and then the Meadowlands, with the final set for Miami and the third-place game in Charlotte, N.C.

Coincidentally, MetLife Stadium is where Chile beat Messi’s Argentina in the 2016 Copa América Centenario final. That was the first, and until now the only, time the U.S. has hosted South America’s national team championship.

Messi is his country’s biggest star, but he’s far from the only one. The Albiceleste squad regularly includes goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa); centerback Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur); midfielders Rodrigo De Paul (Atlético Madrid), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea) and Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool); and forwards Julián Álvarez (Manchester City) and Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan).