World Cup winners Lionel Messi and Thiago Almada prepare to cross paths again at Leagues Cup

Almost exactly ten months ago, an Argentina side which was very much in World Cup preparation mode were taking on Honduras at MIami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Inevitably, the main attraction was Lionel Messi, and the forward duly delivered with a second-half double to see off the Central American outfit.

But the game also featured a senior national team debut for Thiago Almada - at that point a breakthrough prospect who was making waves on the other side of the state border, with MLS side Atlanta United. His half-hour cameo would draw praise from Messi: “He is a very fast player who knows how to play one-on-one. He is very mischievous. He is not afraid of anything.”

The former Vélez Sarsfield man would go on to be included in the Albiceleste’s World Cup-winning squad becoming the first active MLS player to lift the trophy. 

This season, the 22-year-old is more than justifying that status, having scored eight goals and registered nine assists in MLS so far.

Almada’s first senior goal for Argentina, back in March, also had an inescapable element of foreshadowing. The attacking midfielder was on hand to convert the rebound from another one of Messi’s long-range free kicks, which had thundered off the crossbar. A passing of the torch of sorts.

As fate would have it, Argentina’s World Cup hero would be back in Florida just under a year on from the first time he shared a pitch with Almada, as the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner signed with Inter Miami CF. His first game would more than justify the fanfare that came with his arrival, as he netted a last-minute free-kick winner in his team’s opening Leagues Cup 2023 game, against Cruz Azul.

On Tuesday, the second match-up in the South 3 group sees the two Argentinian World Cup winners cross paths again - this time, on the opposing teams. 

Speaking ahead of his compatriot’s arrival back in June, Almada was keen to see how the former Barcelona man would fare in MLS - “I think he’s going to enjoy it a lot, and the people there will treat him well”, he would tell TyC Sports. Although Almada would have preferred to see Messi line up with him at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the midfielder knows that his international teammate’s arrival will have a transformative impact on North American soccer as a whole: “The league is going to grow a lot [...] He’s going to a big club, that’s going to grow a lot too”. 

The mutual respect between Argentina’s past and future is clear, and Tuesday night will undoubtedly see a warm reunion between the pair ahead of the match. With a spot in the Leagues Cup playoffs already on the line, though, there won’t be any room for pleasantries once the game kicks off.