Lionel Messi's US Swan Song: A Gift to American Soccer

It’s a moment more iconic than any other in the 30-year history of Major League Soccer. Lionel Messi, then 36, standing over a free kick 30 yards from goal, days after completing a shock move to the United States. On that night in the summer of 2023, deep into the dying moments of his US debut, Inter Miami were in need of a miracle.

With one brilliant stroke of his left foot, Messi delivered. His game-winning free kick, placed just out of reach of the opposing goalkeeper, was a work of art. It rolled back the years, reminiscent of the brilliance that had by then already solidified his stature as the greatest player in the history of the sport. Those in attendance who weren’t screaming were simply wide-eyed and slack jawed, in disbelief at what they’d seen.

To many who were there that night, Messi’s mere presence in Major League Soccer was more surreal than what they’d just witnessed. The Argentina legend was of course a staple in the US by 2023 but he’d largely been kept at arm’s length. He was readily available on television, his genius almost always narrated by Ray Hudson’s hyperbolic prose, and Americans would occasionally visit with Messi in person as well, almost always in the form of a meaningless summer friendly every year or two.

Now in the twilight of his career, Messi had shirked other leagues and offers and had come to the US to retire. What has followed has been a complicated yet unquestionably successful two-and-a-half years, with Miami winning their first league championship and solidifying themselves as the standard-bearers in MLS.

A funny thing also happened along the way.

When Messi joined up with Miami, he was months removed from his crowning achievement – winning the 2022 World Cup – and he’d suggested repeatedly that the tournament would be his final one. Up until that point, the only true, meaningful moment of Messi’s international career Americans had witnessed in person had been his brief retirement from the national team after the 2016 Copa América Centenario, when a tearful Messi broke down to the media after losing the final.

Messi, of course, did return to the Albiceleste and offered Americans another chance to watch his magic on the international stage during the 2024 Copa América, which he won. Despite some frustrations, he also enjoyed his club football at Miami and his everyday life in the US tremendously. Slowly, it began to feel more and more possible he’d feature in his sixth World Cup this summer, and American fans began to realize they’d get an entirely unexpected chance to watch the diminutive forward’s international curtain call in person.

Messi follows in the footsteps of Pelé, who came to the US in the mid-70s, and David Beckham, who did so three decades later. Unlike those two, Messi only ever came here to play football, not to proselytize the game to the American masses. He’s expanded his commercial footprint here, certainly, but Messi never needed to conquer American club soccer to do so. His face and name alone would have sufficed. His presence here at times feels more like a gift than anything else.

Argentina are favored by few to repeat as champions this year, often thrown behind Spain, France and even England, at times, as contenders. He is approaching Miroslav Klose’s all-time World Cup goals record of 16 (Messi has 13) and could log his 200th international cap during the tournament. The appeal of watching Messi win another World Cup feels undeniable. It has little to do with his legacy. Any suggestion that Messi needs to win another title to solidify that feels genuinely farcical.

He does feel well equipped to perform this summer, in no small part because his time in MLS has already exposed him to many of the stadiums he’ll play in and, more importantly, because he’s already grown accustomed to the absurdities of traveling thousands of miles between matches, as is frequently the case in the American top flight. He has been at ease in the US, telling reporters last week he is “savoring every moment” of his swan song with Argentina as the end approaches.

The US is savoring every moment of Messi’s North American curtain call as well.

Messi, put simply, is in extra time at this point, and winning another championship would only solidify his legend. Entirely unburdened, the Argentinian is playing his final World Cup free from the expectations that come with being a precocious wunderkind, in competition for the best player in the world, or a legend of the game looking for one last piece to balance his trophy cabinet. That sort of freedom can liberate and empower a player, but players of Messi’s ilk often need those expectations to continue to perform.

How Messi responds this summer remains to be seen, but we will get our first glimpse at him on Tuesday evening in Kansas City, as his US denouement continues.