Lionel Messi is often referred to as the best soccer player of all time. Messi began his soccer journey in 1995, when he joined Newell Old Boys academy in Rosario, Argentina. At the age of 13, Messi moved to Spain to play for Futbol Club Barcelona, where he debuted for the first team at 16.
Messi went on to star in matches for Barcelona and Argentina, winning many major awards in the process. During his time on such teams, Messi won the Champions League four times, gold at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and most recently, the International Federation of Association Football World Cup.
Following financial trouble at Barcelona, Messi joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 before transferring to Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Inter Miami in 2023. In Miami, he has played 25 matches, scoring 23 goals. Messi currently receives a guaranteed salary of 20.45 million dollars in addition to an ownership stake in the club.
Messi’s arrival in the United States has led to an extraordinary amount of new interest in MLS, especially for Inter Miami. The arrival of Messi has increased attendance in league matches, setting new records across the league.
At Chicago Fire’s Soldier Field, 62,214 fans attended a match, 72,610 went to Sporting Kansas’s Arrowhead Stadium and 65,612 were present at the New England Revolution’s Gillette Stadium on April 27 of this year.
Wolfpack soccer player Brendan Hobbs (I) acknowledges the true scope of Messi and Inter Miami’s influence. He comments, “I have been to just about every Revolution game this season and there were roughly 20,000 people at each game.” Hobbs goes on to describe the match between Inter Miami and the Revolution: “I was there, sitting in the section where Messi walked out, and the energy was night and day different from normal. It was much more energetic. A lot of that energy, however, went into supporting Messi, rather than the Revolution.”
Los Angeles Galaxy’s Dignity Health Sports Park sold out against Inter Miami within six minutes of tickets being released. Just before the match, tickets were being resold for 1,500 dollars, an unprecedented price for the MLS. Even with these unmatched statistics, the debate of Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo rages on.
39-year-old Ronaldo made a similar career move to Messi, following an extremely successful career at Spain’s Real Madrid, where he became regarded as the best goalscorer in history. Ronaldo declined the MLS in favor of a move to Al Nassr Football Club in Saudi Arabia for 200 million dollars a year.
BLS Classics teacher and Arsenal Football Club fan Mr. Salvatore Bartoloma shares, “Ronaldo to me is more of a spectacle.” He goes on to compare the two superstars: “Messi is the guy who shows up to work with his lunch pail and puts in a solid eight hours […] Ronaldo shows up in a tuxedo when everyone else is in work pants.” Mr. Bartoloma believed that Messi has not had as much of an impact on American soccer, further analogizing, “If Lebron decided to play for Serbia, all of Serbia would stop what they’re doing for the day and marvel at this.”
Messi fans were ecstatic at hearing his move and were quick to support the Argentine. Upon hearing Messi coming to the MLS, soccer player and longtime fan Leila Ohashi (III) states, “I was excited! It gives me and other soccer players a chance to see him in-person, which is really special. I think that Messi’s transfer to the MLS has brought more attention to soccer in the US, which will help promote the sport for younger players and encourage the development of soccer in the US in general.”
