Injured Lionel Messi could miss next week’s Argentina friendly at the Linc

Messi left Inter Miami's game on Wednesday with a hamstring strain. He is unlikely to play Saturday and could be doubtful for next Friday's Argentina friendly in Philadelphia.

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published March 14, 2024, 1:10 p.m. ET

Philadelphia soccer fans hoping to see Lionel Messi play next week at Lincoln Financial Field will be holding their collective breath for the next few days.

While Messi is on Argentina’s roster for the March 22 friendly against El Salvador, there’s now a possibility he won’t play. He was substituted earlier than expected from Inter Miami’s Concacaf Champions Cup win over Nashville on Wednesday, and manager Gerardo Martino said after the game that Messi is dealing with a right hamstring strain. Martino revealed that Messi is unlikely to play in this Saturday’s game at D.C. United.

There are still tickets available at Ticketmaster for the international friendly. But they’re far from cheap, starting at $75 (plus the usual endless fees) for one part of the upper deck and rising fast from there.

Argentina’s squad will gather in Philadelphia early next week. While it obviously would disappoint fans if Messi doesn’t play, the reigning World Cup champs have many stars in their squad, including Ángel Di María, Lautaro Martínez, and Julián Álvarez.

El Salvador’s players aren’t that famous, but one is known around here. Goalkeeper Tomás Romero grew up in Cherry Hill and has Salvadoran parents. He was in the Union’s academy as a teen and played for the Union’s reserves as an amateur.

Romero then went to college at Georgetown, where he won a national championship as a freshman in 2019. Los Angeles FC bought his homegrown rights from the Union in 2021, but he rarely played there. Two years later, Romero moved to Toronto FC, where he spent last year. Now he’s with New York City FC, coincidentally as a backup to former Union goalkeeper Matt Freese.

It would be pretty neat if Romero gets to play a home game for his family’s country against the reigning world champions, especially if Messi’s there.