Lionel Messi’s first Inter Miami game: Start time, how to watch and stream

It’s Messi time.

Lionel Messi, the global soccer icon who most recently led Argentina to a thrilling World Cup victory, will make his debut in the United States with Inter Miami Friday.

Messi won’t be facing another MLS club. Friday’s game will be against Cruz Azul, a soccer cub from the Mexican LIGA MX league, and will kick off this year’s Leagues Cup. It’s a monthlong tournament where 47 clubs — 29 from MLS and 18 from LIGA MX — face off in a World Cup-style tournament. The top three teams qualify for the 2024 Champions Cup.

One of soccer’s biggest stars heading to Miami is an odd paring. Inter Miami is in last place in MLS’ Eastern Conference, and the team is playing its games at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale — a temporary home that seats just 22,000 fans. The club’s new stadium, Miami Freedom Park, is about to begin construction and is expected to open in the summer or early fall of 2025.

Regardless, the four-time Champions League winner and the seven-time winner of the Ballon d’Or award is now the undisputed star of MLS, and is under contract through 2025, when he’ll turn 38.

Inter Miami is scheduled to face Cruz Azul at 8 p.m. Friday at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. So soccer fans will have to switch back and forth between Messi and the U.S. women’s national soccer team debut in the 2023 World Cup, where they face Vietnam at 9 p.m. Eastern on Fox.

With Apple TV+ owning all the MLS TV rights, the game won’t air anywhere on broadcast or cable television in English — it will stream exclusively on Apple TV+’s MLS Season Pass.

Calling Messi’s debut in English will be Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman, with Katie Witham reporting from the sideline. The Spanish broadcast will feature Sammy Sadovnik, Eduardo Biscayart, and Carlos Hermosillo, with Antonella Gonzalez handling sideline duties.

MLS Season Pass is $39 for the rest of the season if you’re an Apple TV+ subscriber, or $49 for everyone else. You can also sign up for a one-month free trial of MLS Season Pass if you’re not already an Apple TV+ subscriber.

If you have Apple TV+ and are a subscriber to MLS Season Pass, sure. Otherwise, you’re out of luck.

If you want to watch the game in Spanish, you can tune into Univision and TUDN.

A lot.

Inter Miami announced that Messi’s contract, which runs through the 2025 season, will pay him between $50 million and $60 million a year. Plenty to fund grocery shopping trips to Publix, but not as much as the $674 million he earned in his four-year 2017 contract with FC Barcelona.

On top of that, Messi will also reportedly receive some type of ownership stake in the club as part of his contract. There are also reports Messi has negotiated revenue-sharing deals with both MLS and Apple TV+. Apple also struck a deal with Messi to distribute a four-part documentary on his career.

Unfortunately, no. The Union hosted Inter Miami on June 24, and the two teams aren’t scheduled to face one another again during the second half of the season.

In theory, the two teams could face off during the playoffs, but that would require Inter Miami making a dramatic move up from last place in the Eastern Conference.

It’s also possible the Union could face Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup tournament, but according to the Inquirer’s Jonathan Tannenwald, that’s a long shot — Miami would have to finish above either Atlanta United or Mexico’s Cruz Azul in the group stage, then reach the semifinals.

Otherwise, the closest soccer fans in Philadelphia will get to seeing Messi in person will be New York City, where Inter Miami is scheduled to travel to face the New York Red Bulls on Aug. 26.

Here are Inter Miami’s remaining games. All of the games will stream exclusively on Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass streaming package. Some games in the Leagues Cup will also air on traditional TV.