Is Lionel Messi playing? Projected lineups for Inter Miami vs Monterrey at 2026 Leagues Cup
Lionel Messi is not expected to be part of Inter Miami’s squad for Saturday’s Leagues Cup clash against Monterrey, following the passing of his father, Jorge Messi. While the club has yet to issue an official confirmation, all signs point to the captain sitting out as he will travel to Argentina.
Jorge Messi passed away Friday at a clinic in Rosario at the age of 68, after battling a long illness. He was not only Lionel’s father but also his longtime agent, playing a central role in shaping his career from his early days at Newell’s Old Boys through his moves to Barcelona, PSG and Inter Miami.
His return to the pitch remains uncertain. Three upcoming matches have been floated as possible comeback points: Wednesday’s clash with Club Leon on August 12, which appears unlikely given the short turnaround, and Saturday’s MLS match against Nashville SC on August 15.
The August 19 meeting with Philadelphia Union, meanwhile, is widely seen as the most realistic option, allowing him more time with his family before returning to full training.
Lionel Messi of Inter Miami. (Getty Images)
Miami enters the match off the back of a 4-2 comeback win over Atletico San Luis in their Leagues Cup opener, a game in which Messi scored a brace. Without their captain, head coach Guillermo Hoyos is expected to hand the armband to Noah Allen as Inter Miami looks to build on that result against a Monterrey side chasing their first points of the tournament.
see also
Lionel Messi has already earned a role at Inter Miami once he retires, says club CBO
Inter Miami’s projected lineup
With Messi absent, and Luis Suarez still unavailable due to his ongoing suspension, Hoyos is expected to lean on the same core group that carried Miami through their opener, adjusting the attack to compensate for both absences up top.
Inter Miami’s projected starting XI: Rocco Rios Novo; Ian Fray, Fricio Caicedo, Micael, Noah Allen; Yannick Bright, Casemiro, Rodrigo De Paul; Lovend’s Delinois, Daniel Pinter, Telasco Segovia.
Monterrey’s projected lineup
Monterrey, meanwhile, will look to bounce back from their Matchday 1 defeat to Orlando City, fielding a lineup built around their attacking depth in Miami.
Monterrey’s projected starting XI: Luis Cardenas; Carlos Salcedo, Victor Guzman, Daniel Aceves; Lucas Ocampos, Orbelin Pineda, Jesus Corona, Oliver Torres, Luca Orellano; Hugo Cuypers, Diego Rossi.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1324276914788316'); fbq('init', '1447352325462177'); fbq('track', 'PageView');
var ns1 = document.createElement('noscript');
ns1.innerHTML = '';
document.body.appendChild(ns1);
var ns2 = document.createElement('noscript');
ns2.innerHTML = '';
document.body.appendChild(ns2);
self.__next_f.push([1,"e:[\"$\",\"html\",null,{\"lang\":\"en-US\",\"className\":\"__variable_f0f095 \",\"children\":[[\"$\",\"head\",null,{\"children\":[[\"$\",\"meta\",null,{\"property\":\"fb:app_id\",\"content\":\"3404408633123352\"}],[\"$\",\"meta\",null,{\"property\":\"fb:pages\",\"content\":\"\"}],[\"$\",\"link\",null,{\"rel\":\"amphtml\",\"href\":\"https://worldsoccertalk.com/amp/news/is-lionel-messi-playing-projected-lineup-for-inter-miami-vs-monterrey-at-2026-leagues-cup\"}],[\"$\",\"meta\",null,{\"property\":\"push:title\",\"content\":\"Is Lionel Messi playing? Projected lineups for Inter Miami vs Monterrey at 2026 Leagues Cup\"}],[\"$\",\"meta\",null,{\"property\":\"push:description\",\"content\":\"Inter Miami face Monterrey in the 2026 Leagues Cup, where Lionel Messi is not expected to be present at Nu Stadium for this clash.\"}],[\"$\",\"meta\",null,{\"property\":\"mrf:tags\",\"content\":\"inter-miami;leagues-cup;lionel-messi;monterrey\"}],[[\"$\",\"meta\",\"content_format:sport_news\",{\"property\":\"mrf:tags\",\"content\":\"content_format:sport_news\"}],[\"$\",\"meta\",\"editorial_route:route_1\",{\"property\":\"mrf:tags\",\"content\":\"editorial_route:route_1\"}]],[\"$\",\"meta\",null,{\"property\":\"mrf:sections\",\"content\":\"World Soccer Talk;news\"}],[\"$\",\"meta\",null,{\"property\":\"og:updated_time\",\"content\":\"2026-08-08T11:04:55-04:00\"}],[[[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"type\":\"text/javascript\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"$15\"}}],[\"$\",\"link\",null,{\"rel\":\"preconnect\",\"href\":\"https://cdn.cookielaw.org\"}],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"onetrust-sdk\",\"src\":\"https://cdn.cookielaw.org/scripttemplates/otSDKStub.js\",\"type\":\"text/javascript\",\"charSet\":\"UTF-8\",\"data-domain-script\":\"019a29ca-4db9-7d2f-a043-a2f00c49f8b4\"}],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"onetrust-optanon-wrapper\",\"type\":\"text/javascript\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"function OptanonWrapper() {\\n var groups = window.OnetrustActiveGroups || '';\\n var hasC0002 = groups.indexOf(',C0002,') !== -1;\\n var hasC0004 = groups.indexOf(',C0004,') !== -1;\\n gtag('consent', 'update', {\\n ad_storage: hasC0004 ? 'granted' : 'denied',\\n ad_user_data: hasC0004 ? 'granted' : 'denied',\\n ad_personalization: hasC0004 ? 'granted' : 'denied',\\n analytics_storage: hasC0002 ? 'granted' : 'denied',\\n personalization_storage: hasC0002 ? 'granted' : 'denied',\\n functionality_storage: hasC0002 ? 'granted' : 'denied',\\n security_storage: 'granted'\\n });\\n window.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('oneTrustConsentUpdated'));\\n }\"}}]],\"$L16\"]]}],[\"$\",\"body\",null,{\"className\":\"__variable_5a830f __variable_8b4686\",\"children\":[[\"$\",\"$L17\",null,{}],[\"$\",\"$Lb\",null,{\"parallelRouterKey\":\"children\",\"segmentPath\":[\"children\"],\"error\":\"$undefined\",\"errorStyles\":\"$undefined\",\"errorScripts\":\"$undefined\",\"template\":[\"$\",\"$Ld\",null,{}],\"templateStyles\":\"$undefined\",\"templateScripts\":\"$undefined\",\"notFound\":\"$L18\",\"notFoundStyles\":[]}],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"WebsiteSchema\",\"type\":\"application/ld+json\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"{\\\"@context\\\":\\\"http://schema.org\\\",\\\"@type\\\":\\\"WebSite\\\",\\\"name\\\":\\\"World Soccer Talk\\\",\\\"url\\\":\\\"https://worldsoccertalk.com\\\",\\\"inLanguage\\\":\\\"EN\\\"}\"}}],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"NewsMediaOrganizationSchema\",\"type\":\"application/ld+json\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"{\\\"@context\\\":\\\"http://schema.org\\\",\\\"@type\\\":\\\"NewsMediaOrganization\\\",\\\"name\\\":\\\"World Soccer Talk\\\",\\\"url\\\":\\\"https://worldsoccertalk.com\\\",\\\"description\\\":\\\"The #1 Source for Soccer TV Schedules, Streaming Links, Cord Cutting Reviews, Soccer News and Interviews With Broadcasters.\\\",\\\"address\\\":{\\\"@type\\\":\\\"PostalAddress\\\",\\\"streetAddress\\\":\\\"61 W 23rd Street, 2nd Floor\\\",\\\"addressLocality\\\":\\\"New York\\\",\\\"addressRegion\\\":\\\"NY\\\",\\\"postalCode\\\":\\\"10010\\\",\\\"addressCountry\\\":{\\\"@type\\\":\\\"Country\\\",\\\"name\\\":\\\"United States of America\\\"}},\\\"sameAs\\\":[\\\"https://www.facebook.com/worldsoccertalk\\\",\\\"https://twitter.com/worldsoccertalk\\\",\\\"https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-soccer-talk/\\\",\\\"https://worldsoccertalk.com/rss/feed\\\"]}\"}}],[[\"$\",\"$L19\",null,{\"id\":\"gtm-script\",\"strategy\":\"beforeInteractive\",\"children\":\"\\n (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':\\n new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],\\n j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'\u0026l="+l:"';j.async=true;j.src=\\n 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);\\n })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-W2D8T2H');\\n \"}],[\"$\",\"noscript\",null,{\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"\u003ciframe src=\\\"https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-W2D8T2H\\\" height=\\\"0\\\" width=\\\"0\\\" style=\\\"display:none;visibility:hidden\\\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\"}}]],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"marfeel\",\"className\":\"optanon-category-C0002\",\"type\":\"text/plain\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"function e(e){var t=!(arguments.length\u003e1\u0026\u0026void 0!==arguments[1])||arguments[1],c=document.createElement(\\\"script\\\");c.src=e,t?c.type=\\\"module\\\":(c.async=!0,c.type=\\\"text/javascript\\\",c.setAttribute(\\\"nomodule\\\",\\\"\\\"));var n=document.getElementsByTagName(\\\"script\\\")[0];n.parentNode.insertBefore(c,n)}function t(t,c,n){var a,o,r;null!==(a=t.marfeel)\u0026\u0026void 0!==a||(t.marfeel={}),null!==(o=(r=t.marfeel).cmd)\u0026\u0026void 0!==o||(r.cmd=[]),t.marfeel.config=n,t.marfeel.config.accountId=c;var i=\\\"https://sdk.mrf.io/statics\\\";e(\\\"\\\".concat(i,\\\"/marfeel-sdk.js?id=\\\").concat(c),!0),e(\\\"\\\".concat(i,\\\"/marfeel-sdk.es5.js?id=\\\").concat(c),!1)}!function(e,c){var n=arguments.length\u003e2\u0026\u0026void 0!==arguments[2]?arguments[2]:{};t(e,c,n)}(window,294,{adsTrackingFromClient:true}/*config*/);\"}}],[[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"custom-scripts\",\"type\":\"text/javascript\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"\\n window.futbolSites = window.futbolSites || { cmd: [] }\\n window.googletag = window.googletag || { cmd: [] }\\n window.marfeel = window.marfeel || { cmd: [] }\\n window.vfQ = window.vfQ || [];\\n window.opta_settings = {\\n subscription_id: '6540a023842af2c9d54a808a66d7e401',\\n language: 'en_US',\\n timezone: 'user'\\n }\\n \"}}],[\"$\",\"$L1a\",null,{}],[[[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"gpt-lib\",\"className\":\"optanon-category-C0004\",\"type\":\"text/plain\",\"src\":\"https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js\",\"async\":true}],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"relevant-lib\",\"className\":\"optanon-category-C0004\",\"type\":\"text/plain\",\"src\":\"https://futbol-cdn.relevant-digital.com/static/tags/62b24652ca3bd41063b67f8c.js\",\"async\":true}]],[\"$\",\"$L1b\",null,{\"section\":\"articles\"}]]],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"facebookPixelBc\",\"className\":\"optanon-category-C0004\",\"type\":\"text/plain\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0'; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script', 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js'); fbq('init', '1324276914788316'); fbq('init', '1447352325462177'); fbq('track', 'PageView');\\n var ns1 = document.createElement('noscript');\\n ns1.innerHTML = '\u003cimg height=\\\"1\\\" width=\\\"1\\\" style=\\\"display:none\\\" src=\\\"https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1324276914788316\u0026ev=PageView\u0026noscript=1\\\" /\u003e';\\n document.body.appendChild(ns1);\\n var ns2 = document.createElement('noscript');\\n ns2.innerHTML = '\u003cimg height=\\\"1\\\" width=\\\"1\\\" style=\\\"display:none\\\" src=\\\"https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1447352325462177\u0026ev=PageView\u0026noscript=1\\\" /\u003e';\\n document.body.appendChild(ns2);\\n \"}}],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"defer\":true,\"id\":\"gravitec\",\"className\":\"optanon-category-C0002\",\"type\":\"text/plain\",\"src\":\"https://cdn.gravitec.net/storage/85b129ed6cef770e3208a20c277c6b58/client.js\"}],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"twitterPixelBc\",\"className\":\"optanon-category-C0004\",\"type\":\"text/plain\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"!function(e,t,n,s,u,a){e.twq||(s=e.twq=function(){s.exe?s.exe.apply(s,arguments):s.queue.push(arguments); },s.version='1.1',s.queue=[],u=t.createElement(n),u.async=!0,u.src="https://static.ads-twitter.com/uwt.js", a=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0],a.parentNode.insertBefore(u,a))}(window,document,'script'); twq('config','o403j');\"}}],[[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"comscore\",\"className\":\"optanon-category-C0002\",\"type\":\"text/plain\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"$1c\"}}],false],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"id\":\"adm-pixel-smart\",\"className\":\"optanon-category-C0004\",\"type\":\"text/plain\",\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\"!function(a,e,d,m,t){a.adm={};a.adm.pixid=153623;var o=e.getElementsByTagName(\\\"head\\\")[0],c=e.createElement(\\\"script\\\");a.adm.json=\\\"https://ps.l.admedo.com/8992c1f2-15b6-4fc5-8632-55f9c3000bf9.json\\\",a.adm.pixurl=\\\"https://pool.admedo.com\\\",c.src=\\\"https://pj.l.admedo.com/admtracker.lib.min.js\\\",c.async=!0,o.appendChild(c)}(window,document);\\n (function() { var img = new Image(); img.src="https://pool.admedo.com/pixel?id=153623\u0026t=img"; })();\\n \"}}],[\"$\",\"script\",null,{\"defer\":true,\"id\":\"viafoura-entry\",\"className\":\"optanon-category-C0002\",\"type\":\"text/plain\",\"src\":\"https://cdn.viafoura.net/entry/index.js\"}],[\"$\",\"style\",null,{\"dangerouslySetInnerHTML\":{\"__html\":\".isSpecialHubEvent .special-event-hero-title { color: #B80F0E; }\"}}]]}]]}]\n"])
Source link
