Lionel Messi is coming to Inter Miami and Major League Soccer, a courtship that has been going on since 2019. When Messi announced he was signing with Inter Miami, the MLS club’s Instagram account grew from 1 million to 5.1 million followers in less than 10 hours.
For the most part, Lionel Messi has played many exhibitions and tournaments in the United States, most wearing Barcelona’s or Argentina’s jersey. While with Barcelona they were all exhibitions, with Argentina, Messi achieved great heights in his national team career.
Here are some career highlights of Lionel Messi playing for Argentina and Barcelona in the United States, just a sample of what’s coming week in and week out to Major League Soccer.
Lionel Messi in United States
First of all, when adding up Messi’s official goal count in America playing for Argentina and Barcelona, Lionel Messi has 16 goals in 13 games on American soil. Messi’s biggest match was a hat-trick performance in front of a sold-out MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in 2012 in a 4-3 match against Brazil.
His first goal in the United States was against the New York Red Bulls in 2006 playing for Barcelona, later on in 2017 he scored against Real Madrid ironically in Miami.
Messi would score off a free kick against the United States in the 2016 Copa America Centenario, that goal would draw Messi closer to becoming Argentina’s all-time leading scorer. Messi and Argentina did play the final of that tournament but lost via penalty kicks to Chile.
Messi’s last goals in the United States was a two-goal performance against Jamaica in a 3-0 win for Argentina at Red Bull Arena prior to the 2022 World Cup.
