Lionel Messi will make a trip to Vancouver after all, one year after skipping the longest trip in Major League Soccer.
Messi and Inter Miami will play two matches against the Vancouver Whitecaps later this month in the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup tournament.
Inter Miami will visit Vancouver at BC Place on April 24 at 10:30 p.m. ET in the first leg of their semifinal. Inter Miami will host Vancouver in the second leg on April 30 at 8 p.m. at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The first leg in Vancouver will be Messi’s first game in the Canadian city.
Messi, Luis Suárez and Sergio Busquets did not travel to Vancouver for a regular-season game last season on May 25, 2024. Inter Miami opted to rest their aging Barcelona trio, disappointing ticket-paying fans who attended the game.
Messi turned in a vintage performance, scoring two goals with an assist in Inter Miami’s 3-1 win against Los Angeles FC, to advance 3-2 on aggregate score during the second leg of their quarterfinal on Wednesday night.
Vancouver’s Tristian Blackmon scored the tie-breaking goal to help the Whitecaps advance past LIGA MX side Pumas in Mexico City late Wednesday night. Vancouver scored twice on the road, capitalizing on the away goals tiebreaker for the tournament despite the 3-all aggregate score during their quarterfinal.
Vancouver is unable to host the first leg against Inter Miami on an early date due to an AC/DC concert held at the venue on April 22, creating a little bit of a schedule jam for Inter Miami.
Inter Miami is scheduled to host FC Dallas in a MLS regular-season match on April 26, two days after the first leg. It’s unclear whether MLS will adjust.
Before the Champions Cup semifinal, Inter Miami will visit the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on Sunday, then face the Columbus Crew at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland on April 19.
Inter Miami and Vancouver’s semifinal will be played just six days apart, while the other semifinal between LIGA MX clubs Tigres UANL and Cruz Azul will be played eight days apart on April 23 and May 1.
If Inter Miami advances past Vancouver in the semifinal, it’s possible it could host the June 1 Champions Cup final before participating in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.
Inter Miami will play Egyptian side Al Ahly FC in the Club World Cup opening game on June 14 in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, face FC Porto on June 19 in Atlanta, and play Palmeiras on June 23 in Miami during the group stage of the FIFA tournament.