LOS ANGELES — Following LAFC‘s third goal on Saturday night, which sent most of the 75,600-plus in attendance into a frenzy at the L.A. Coliseum, a fan with an Argentina jersey rushed on to the field and immediately sprinted toward Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi.

The scene is a common one for any event involving the 2022 World Cup winner, but this time the celebratory music blasting out was not for him, as Miami was losing 3-0. Indeed, in Messi’s first official game of 2026 with the defending MLS Cup champions, the initial pages of the Hollywood script being written for him in another World Cup year didn’t exactly go to plan.

Ahead of Saturday’s marquee MLS opening-weekend match against Son Heung-min‘s LAFC, there had been doubts that Messi would participate after he suffered a hamstring injury during Miami’s preseason friendly in February.

At 38 years old, it was fair to not only worry about his start to the MLS season but also wonder if this could point to issues in this summer’s World Cup. After all, Messi has yet to 100% commit to this summer’s tournament with Argentina and has been honest about his fitness being a factor.

“I would like to be there. To feel well and to be an important part of helping my national team, if I am there,” Messi said, back in October. “I am going to assess that on a day-to-day basis when I start preseason next year with Inter [Miami] and see if I can really be 100%. I’m really eager because it’s the World Cup.”

Although Miami head coach Javier Mascherano said Friday that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was “training at the same level as the rest of the team all week,” Miami’s No. 10 looked off his game against LAFC.

During the first 10 minutes, Messi’s touch looked unexpectedly imprecise, as did the timing of his passes. His distribution did eventually improve and he was fairly unlucky to not have an assist, but the same could not be said for his shooting as he was unable to hit the target once.

Messi wasn’t alone either. Whether it was down to adjusting to having new striker Germán Berterame up top, or its captain having a less-than-perfect game, Miami wasn’t able to gain much momentum until after LAFC took a 1-0 lead through a goal from David Martínez that was assisted by Son.

The 33-year-old South Korea international has his own aspirations ahead of the World Cup after leaving Tottenham Hotspur last year, and what was eye-catching for a match featuring Messi was just how many LAFC supporters — with plenty sporting jerseys with Son’s name — heavily outnumbered those donning the pink kit of arguably the greatest soccer player of all time.

Messi didn’t receive overwhelming cheers when he had the ball at his feet. In fact, at one point when hit the ground late in the game and didn’t earn a foul, a chorus of boos emerged from countless supporters in the L.A. Coliseum.

“No, no, no I didn’t see anything,” Mascherano said postmatch on whether his captain seemed angry about the refereeing decisions, or the result in general. “The truth is that the match finished and then I went into the locker room.”

Following goals from Denis Bouanga and Nathan Ordaz that solidified a 3-0 loss for Miami, Messi quickly exchanged jerseys with Bouanga after the final whistle, and then swiftly exited the field first.

So, after one loss, is it too early to panic about Messi’s Miami?

“The reality is that they beat us fair and square, that’s the truth,” Mascherano said afterward. “I think it’s often difficult to explain when you lose 3-0, but my initial analysis gives me the feeling that the result was somewhat misleading. The game, as it unfolded, there wasn’t that much of a difference.

“As coaching staff, we have to analyze the game, not just the result, because if we only focus on the result, we’re only making decisions based on whether we win or lose. I think that in the game, we saw aspects of the style of play we want, which we need to improve.”

Messi will need to improve but, to be fair to him, we shouldn’t take this inch and run a mile after his first game of the year. Mascherano recently stated that Messi was healthy enough to return to full-team training, but the forward was only recently recovering from a hamstring injury, so it’s no major shock that he was off the pace a bit.

Doubting Messi is a fool’s errand, and he didn’t have an entirely poor showing on Saturday. Indeed, he made a handful of dangerous passes that should have led to at least one goal for Miami, and also did well to carry the ball forward occasionally.

It was a decent game, but decent isn’t what you expect from Messi, especially during a World Cup year. It’s premature to make any long-term judgments, but if the script doesn’t change in the next month or so then questions will start to be asked.

“He will decide, and we will support whatever he decides,” Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni said in December about whether Messi will be at the World Cup. “In principle, everything is going well, but six months is a long time. There is still time.”

With four months to go, the clock is ticking.

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

The NFL community continues to mourn the death of wide receiver Rondale Moore, who was found dead at his Indiana home on Saturday night, officials said. 

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown was among those who couldn’t believe the news, and he revealed he had just spoken with Moore not hours before he was discovered with a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound in a garage.

As tributes poured in on social media for Moore, Brown said that he received a message from his fellow receiver earlier on Saturday. 

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“Bro ain’t no way brotha you just messaged me [a] few hours ago,” Brown wrote on X. Brown posted another tweet saying, “You wasn’t alone bro… I told you I know how you feel.”

Brown also reposted tributes from other NFL players like Raheem Mostert, Elijah Moore, Jamal Adams and others. 

He even shared a text thread that he had with Moore, where he shared words of encouragement after the receiver suffered another season-ending injury. He had dealt with one in 2024, and during the Minnesota Vikings’ first preseason game of 2025, Moore tore his ACL on Aug. 9, 2025. 

NFL WIDE RECEIVER RONDALE MOORE DEAD AT 25

“Praying for you brother,” Brown wrote to Moore with a praying hands emoji, “sometimes in life when stuff don’t go as planned as frustrating as it may be have to always remember God is in control, his plan will always prevail all we can do is trust him and always remember someone has it worse. I’m here if you ever need to talk bro I know how s— feel it sucks dawg but knowing you, you built for this don’t give up [flexed arm emoji.”

New Albany police chief Todd Bailey broke the news that Moore was found in a garage with a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. The death remains under investigation.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Rondale Moore (4) before the game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Oct. 15, 2023.  (Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports)

Floyd County Coroner Matthew Tomlin also confirmed Moore’s death. He said an autopsy would take place on Sunday. 

Moore entered the NFL as an Arizona Cardinals pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after starring at Purdue. He played three seasons with the Cardinals before he was traded to the Atlanta Falcons in 2024. However, a season-ending injury cut his time short in Atlanta.

“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with his family, friends, teammates, and everyone who loved him and had the privilege of knowing such a special person,” the Cardinals said in a statement.

He would join the Vikings before the start of last season, but that injury in August didn’t allow him to get a shot at making the roster for that season.

Chiefs receiver Hollywood Brown revealed Rondale Moore messaged him just hours before his death on Saturday night. (GETTY)

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“I am devastated by the news of Rondale’s death. While Rondale had been a member of the Vikings for a short time, he was someone we came to know well and care about deeply,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said in a statement. “He was a humble, soft-spoken, and respectful young man who was proud of his Indiana roots.

“As a player, he was disciplined, dedicated and resilient despite facing adversity multiple times as injuries sidelined him throughout his career. We are all heartbroken by the fact he won’t continue to live out his NFL dream and we won’t all have a chance to watch him flourish.”

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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