‘Is there a great American player?’ - MLS told how to build on ‘Lionel Messi effect’ & sold out NFL stadiums by FIFA president Gianni Infantino

The domestic game in the United States has received another boost on the back of eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi linking up with David Beckham co-owned Inter Miami in 2023. He has become the biggest draw in MLS, with the Herons able to sell out NFL venues such as Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and Gillette Stadium in New England.

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Infantino has told the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles of his advice for MLS: “I told them you have to be a bit more bold, a bit more in the game. Bring in the best players. The 'Messi effect' if we want to call it that way, you see Messi and Inter Miami filling stadiums, and not MLS stadiums but NFL stadiums.”

Salary caps and roster restrictions are considered to be preventing MLS from fulfilling its true potential, with Infantino adding on the need to maximise opportunities with international and domestic talent: “We want to see the best so we need to bring them the best players, but also the best game, and the best spectacle. For this we need to invest in the players because we want to show to the kids who play soccer when they are at school or when they are very young, that there is a path in soccer to glory to become one of these world stars. This is what maybe they don't see yet. They see it in basketball, American football, in baseball and ice hockey. But in soccer, it's still kind of far away. You have to go to Europe. And is there really a great American soccer player?”

There are plenty of exciting players in the American game – with the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna, Tim Weah and Sergino Dest starring in Europe – but there are not many MLS-based stars that would make the United States’ strongest squad, and that is an issue they will want to address in the future.