Inter Miami will ‘celebr8’ Lionel Messi’s eighth Ballon d’Or by hosting a friendly match against New York City FC later this month
- A special drink worth $8.88 will also be offered to fans at the DRV PNK Stadium
- Miami failed to make the MLS playoffs due to a poor run before Messi’s arrival in July
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Inter Miami will host a friendly match later this month in honor and celebration of the eighth Ballon d’Or won by Lionel Messi earlier this week.
The team will play against fellow MLS club New York City FC on November 10. Both teams missed the MLS playoffs, which started last month.
The trophy, which Messi received in Paris on Monday, will be presented to the crowd before kickoff, with the ceremony also set to include remarks from MLS commissioner Don Garber and Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas, the team said in a statement press release.
And there will be no shortage of themes surrounding the number 8, commemorating Messi’s record-breaking time winning the Ballon d’Or – awarded annually to the world’s best player.
The team says it will “celebrate” Messi’s trophy by playing the extra game, and a special drink for $8.88. There will also be gold fireworks and a gold carpet entrance, the team said, another nod to the gold trophy.
Inter Miami will celebrate Lionel Messi’s eighth Ballon d’Or by playing NYFC on November 10
Messi returned to South Florida early on Tuesday after the Ballon d’Or announcement and was at a training session with the club that morning, which was a clear indication that Inter Miami was still looking for a match, even if it is MLS season over.
Messi and Inter Miami were scheduled to travel to China next week to play two friendlies – with the potential for more than 100,000 tickets to be sold for those matches – but that tour has hit a slew of logistics problems and was eventually canceled.
Inter Miami said the reason was “unforeseen circumstances.”
The tour operator, NSN, said the decision to cancel was out of respect for Chinese officials following the death last week of the country’s former second-ranking leader, Li Keqiang. He was China’s top economic official for more than a decade.
Messi won the World Cup before coming to Miami in July and won the Leagues Cup with the Herons
The NYFC match will also be a tune-up of sorts for Messi, who has not played since Inter Miami’s MLS season ended on October 21.
The 2022 World Cup winner, who made fourteen appearances in all competitions in his first half of the season as a player for Inter Miami, recorded eleven goals and eight assists for the American club this year.
In addition, he helped the team lift the 2023 Leagues Cup, its historic first trophy, and reach the final of the 2023 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup, playing the first ever final held in Miami.
Messi is expected to join Argentina for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay (in Buenos Aires) on November 16 and Brazil (in Rio de Janeiro) on November 21.