Lionel Messi leaves Leagues Cup match with Necaxa after just 11 minutes as Inter Miami star suffers apparent injury

Lionel Messi was left the game with an injury just minutes into Inter Miami's Leagues Cup clash with Necaxa on Saturday night.

The Argentine star pulled up with an apparent leg injury in just the 11th minute after being tripped up running into the box. That injury left him down on the sidelines before he briefly underwent treatment. After a quick check, Messi walked straight down the tunnel and into the locker room, being replaced by Federico Redondo as Inter Miami switched tactics with Messi gone.

The injury came in the wake of league-wide discussions about Messi's workload, which led to him skipping out on the MLS All-Star Game. As a result, he earned a one-game suspension, prompting controversy as owner Jorge Mas hit out at the "draconian" MLS rules.

Leading up to Saturday's Leagues Cup match, Messi had played a full 90 minutes 10 times since June 14. Included in that run were four games in the Club World Cup, five games in MLS, and the Leagues Cup opener against Atlas midweek. In total, Messi has played more than 2,500 minutes for Miami since the start of 2025, featuring across four different competitions, while also featuring twice for Argentina in June as well.

Messi has dealt with several injury issues over the last few years, including a ligament injury that kept him out for two months last season. Earlier this year, Messi sat out of two Argentina games due to Adductor pain.

Following Saturday's match against Necaxa, Inter Miami will be back for their third Leagues Cup match against Pumas on Wednesday. After that, the club is scheduled to visit Orlando City on Aug. 10.