Lionel Messi returns to Inter Miami as Leagues Cup campaign ends with Club León defeat

• Lionel Messi returned to Inter Miami after attending his father’s memorial service in Argentina following Jorge Messi’s death at the age of 68.
• Messi came off the bench in the second half but could not prevent Miami from losing 3-2 to Club León.
• The defeat eliminated Inter Miami from the Leagues Cup knockout stage after the club finished group play with one win and two losses.

Lionel Messi returned to Inter Miami on Wednesday following the death of his father, Jorge Messi, but could not prevent the club from being eliminated from the Leagues Cup after a 3-2 defeat to Club León at Nu Stadium.

Jorge Messi died Saturday at a hospital in Rosario, Argentina. He was 68.

Messi traveled to Rosario following his father’s death and was reported to have attended a private memorial service before returning to the United States.

The Argentina captain was named among Miami’s substitutes against León before entering the match after halftime.

Inter Miami led 1-0 at the break after Dániel Pintér opened the scoring, with Messi replacing Pintér at the start of the second half.

León responded through Daniel Arcila, who equalised in the 50th minute before Yannick Bright restored Miami’s lead.

Juan Domínguez brought León level again before Arcila completed his double to give the Mexican side victory.

The result ended Miami’s Leagues Cup campaign after the club recorded one win and two defeats during the group stage.

León have now won all three of their matches in the competition and advance to the knockout stage.

Messi’s return came after he missed Miami’s previous match against Monterrey while attending his father’s memorial service.

Inter Miami midfielder Yannick Bright said the squad was surprised to see Messi return to the club before the match.

“It’s incredible. I wasn’t expecting it and it shows how much he cares,” Bright said.

“When I saw that he was here, all I thought about was giving 150% for him. It’s a tough situation, so we’re trying to stay close to him and offer as much support as we can.”

Messi also paid tribute to his father in an Instagram post published before the match, describing the difficulty of playing at the World Cup while Jorge Messi was dealing with an illness.

Messi recalled his father’s wish to see him play at another World Cup and explained how he continued through the tournament despite the worsening situation.

The tournament ended with Argentina losing the final to Spain, denying Messi another World Cup title after he had captained his country to victory in 2022.

Messi wrote that he wanted to win the tournament for his father and bring the trophy home, but admitted he had little left physically after Argentina’s run to the final.

The defeat to León means Inter Miami will have to wait for another opportunity to challenge for the Leagues Cup after reaching last year’s final, where they lost to Seattle Sounders FC.

Messi’s return provided a difficult emotional backdrop to an elimination that leaves Miami without a route into the latter stages of this year’s competition.

The focus now turns back to Inter Miami’s remaining commitments, with Messi returning to club football after a week dominated by the loss of his father.