I headed to L.A. in the Messy U.S' Son Heung-min's first ever MLS showdown is virtually confirmed

*This content was translated by AI.

• Open MLS at 11:30 a.m. on the 22nd

Son Heung-min (32, Los Angeles FC) and Lionel Messi (39, Inter Miami) are virtually confirmed to face off in the opening match of the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2026 season.

The Inter Miami club released a photo of the team heading to Los Angeles (LA) on the 20th (Korea Standard Time). The photo also included Messi, who was recently announced about his hamstring injury.

Earlier, the Inter Miami club announced that Messi was excluded from team training due to a hamstring injury in a pre-season friendly, making it unclear whether he will play in the MLS opener.

However, Messi's appearance in the team's training, which was released on the 18th by local time, was also included in the squad heading to LA on the same day, making Messi's participation in the MLS opening game likely.

Naturally, expectations for the first MLS showdown between Son Heung-min and Messi, the "two superstars" representing MLS, have also increased. The MLS opener between LAFC and Inter Miami will be held at the LA Memorial Coliseum at 11:30 a.m. on the 22nd.

LAFC is in the Western Conference and Inter Miami is in the Eastern Conference, so they will face each other only once in a regular season, and last year, Son Heung-min joined LAFC in the middle of the season, which failed to face Messi.

Instead, the MLS secretariat has decided to face LAFC and Inter Miami, each of which Son Heung-min and Messi belong, as a matchup for the opening game of the 2026 season, and expects the best box office performance ever.

In the same vein, the opening stadium was changed to a 77,000-seat Memorial Coliseum rather than a 22,000-seat LAFC home stadium BMO Stadium. It is the first time in history that an MLS game will be held at the Memorial Coliseum, and Son Heung-min and Messi are by far at the center.

The MLS opener, which almost broke the news of Messi's injury ahead of the opening match, drew keen attention again as Messi's physical condition quickly recovered and headed to LA.

Just in time, Son Heung-min also scored one goal and three assists in the first half of the 2026 North American Caribbean Football Federation (CONCACAF) Champions Cup first round match against Real España (Honduras) at Francisco Morasan Stadium in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on the 18th, finishing preheating with a brilliant performance from his first official match of the season.

At that time, Son Heung-min was replaced early in the 12th minute of the second half even after accumulating as many as four offensive points, and local media interpreted it as a break in preparation for the MLS opening match against Inter Miami. In other words, he is able to face Messi in his best condition.

If Son Heung-min and Messi face off, it will be the first time in seven years and two months since the UEFA Champions League stage in the 2018-2019 season. At that time, Son Heung-min was a member of Tottenham and Messi was a member of FC Barcelona.

In the first showdown held at Wembley Stadium in London in October 2018, Son Heung-min scored one assist and Messi scored two goals, respectively. The match was won 4–2 by away team Barcelona.

In December of that year, Son Heung-min started and Messi replaced each other, but neither of them scored an offensive point, and the game ended with a 1-1 draw.

In the first showdown on the MLS stage, Son Heung-min will challenge Messi's team to win the first team as well as his first goal.

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*This content was translated by AI.