The Union have MLS’s best record as they visit Inter Miami. Will Lionel Messi play?

When the Union visit Inter Miami on Saturday (7:30 p.m., Apple TV), they will take MLS’s best record this season (4-0-1, 12 points) into the home of the league’s best player.

But it’s not certain that Lionel Messi will be on the field.

Messi reported some groin pain after Miami’s March 16 game at Atlanta, so he did not take part in Argentina’s national team camp in the days that followed. He stayed in Florida instead. The superstar practiced Friday, and Herons manager Javier Mascherano — another legendary ex-player — said Messi will be on the game roster Saturday night.

That doesn’t mean Messi is a certainty to play. It just means he’ll be available, whether as a starter or off the bench.

» READ MORE: The Union will host Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt in an exhibition this summer

If you’re looking for a definitive answer on whether Messi will play, you might not get one until the last minute. The starting lineups are revealed an hour before kickoff.

(And of course, Apple and MLS hope you pay to watch the telecast to find out.)

Before that Atlanta game, Messi had missed three of the Herons’ previous four contests and was a second-half substitute in the other. It was unclear whether this was for load management or because an injury was brewing. Now there has been an actual injury, but as often happens with groin matters, the severity can come and go.

Messi previously played against the Union last September in Fort Lauderdale, when he had two goals and an assist in a 3-1 win. He hasn’t played at Subaru Park since the 2023 Leagues Cup, having missed last June’s regular-season visit because it was right before the Copa América tournament.

» READ MORE: Union knock off manager Bradley Carnell’s former club in first ever meeting with St. Louis City

Barring an injury, it seems likely that Messi will play when Miami visits the Union on May 24. The game isn’t sold out yet, but the cheapest available ticket on the Union’s website was $217 as of Thursday.

If Messi doesn’t play, the Union — and perhaps Union fans — will want to avoid falling into a trap that has caught many other MLS teams. He is far from the only good player Miami has.

Veteran striker Luis Suárez is still going at age 38, with four goals and five assists this year. Fellow former Barcelona stars Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets are still at left-back and defensive midfield, respectively.

But just as important are the Herons’ latest crop of younger South Americans. Argentine winger Tadeo Allende has four goals in seven games (though he’s out injured), and Venezuelan attacking midfielder Telasco Segovia erupted onto the scene with three goals in his first two outings.

Two of those goals came in a 4-1 blowout win at the Houston Dynamo on a night where Messi did not play. (Former Union midfielder Jack McGlynn did play for Houston and did not play well.)

» READ MORE: The Union only needed to blame themselves, not the ref, for an ugly loss to Nashville

The Dynamo drew some ridicule for issuing a statement aimed at fans who came only to witness Messi in action: “Unfortunately, we have no control over who plays for our opponent.”

It wasn’t the first time something like that happened across the league.

The Union had their own bad experience last June. Even though it had been clear for months that Messi wasn’t coming, many fans wore his distinctive pink-and-black Miami jersey anyway.

It was a 2-1 Union loss, with the hosts blowing an early lead despite a man advantage for the last 29 minutes and a two-man advantage for the last 16. When substitute Leo Afonso — long ago of the Union academy, coincidentally — scored the game-winner, all those bandwagoning Miami fans cheered as if Messi was on the field.

» READ MORE: DJ Jazzy Jeff produces Philly’s official ‘sonic ID’ for FIFA World Cup 2026

“I’ve been saying this week, you have to pick your poison,” Union manager Bradley Carnell said. “With Messi, you know, exactly what you get. They might give up something to gain so many things when Messi is on the field, but when he’s off the field, then they just have a lot of youth, exuberance, energy, and that’s really tough to contain as well.”

Carnell has faced Messi just once. Last year, St. Louis City earned a 3-3 tie in Fort Lauderdale in a game in which Messi, Suárez, and Alba all scored. In July 2023, St. Louis beat Miami, 3-0, in what proved to be the last game before Messi’s debut.

Many Union fans would be content with Carnell taking another tie out of Chase Stadium.

“I think we’ve proven over five games now that we can be competitive,” he said. “We can be versatile in the way we’re trying to break teams down — it’s not necessarily just with the press. So we’re excited about the challenge.”

» READ MORE: Jovan Lukić has fit impressively fast into the Union’s new-look midfield

While the U.S. men’s national team crashed in the Concacaf Nations League, Union goalkeeper Andre Blake captained Jamaica to a 4-1 aggregate victory in a Gold Cup qualifying series against St. Vincent & the Grenadines.

Unfortunately, Blake took a pounding in the Reggae Boyz’ home game of the two-match set on Tuesday. Twice in the last 10 minutes, he was involved in significant collisions that left him sprawled on the grass.

“He put his body on the line,” Carnell said. “We just watched some of the footage, and he extended himself. He knew what he had to do for his country. And we’re proud of him for doing what he did, and [he] helped his team qualify for the Gold Cup.”

» READ MORE: Why the U.S. men’s Nations League flop became about who wasn’t there, not just who was

Carnell seemed a little concerned — but not too much.

“He’s doing OK,” he said. “We feel he should be ready to go. We’re just monitoring it day-by-day, but we feel in a good space that he’ll be able to go.”

Everyone else who left town for international duty returned fine, though Jesús Bueno returned later than others. He earned his debut for Venezuela’s senior national team last Friday, playing the first half of a 2-1 loss at Ecuador in FIFA World Cup qualifying. The midfielder did not play in Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Peru, though he stayed with the team.

Because Bueno flew back north through Miami, the Union allowed him to stay in South Florida and meet the team there Friday.

» READ MORE: Four years after leaving the Union, Mark McKenzie is one of the team’s great success stories