MLS Growing in Quality and Expectations with Arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami

With the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami in the United States, the eyes of the soccer world are set on Major League Soccer (MLS).

Although it has the stigma of the league to which the stars go to retire, the MLS in which Lionel Messi will compete with Inter Miami it has grown steadily in recent years on all fronts: quality of the teams, financial muscle and impact among fans.
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How is MLS played?

The MLS currently has 29 teams distributed in two conferences: 15 in the East and 14 in the West.

26 of those sets are from the United States and three are from Canada (Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and CF Montreal).

There are plans to expand the league to new cities with two projects well advanced: the recently announced one for San Diego and one also imminently expected in Las Vegas.

The MLS calendar features regular season and playoff. The team with the most points during the regular season wins the MLS Supporters’ Shield and the playoff winner wins the MLS Cup.

Los Angeles (LAFC), where the Ecuadorians Diego Palacios and José Cifuentesis the current champion of both titles.

An important novelty for this year is the premiere of the Leagues Cup, a new official tournament that will be held in summer and that will pit all the MLS teams against those of Liga MX.

Precisely in the League Cup, the official debut of Lionel Messi is expected, which is projected for July 21 against Cruz Azul at the DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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MLS stars

There is a long list of great figures who came to MLS in their last years in soccer, among which are, as shown, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, David VillaThierry Henry, Kaká or Steven Gerrard.

That MLS appeal still holds up and Gareth Bale, for example, retired from football after playing for LAFC for a few months in 2022.

But MLS has also become an increasingly powerful magnet for rising youth talent in global soccer.

The best example of this is the Argentine Thiago Almadawho at the age of 22 is the undisputed leader of Atlanta United and who was proclaimed World Cup champion with his country in Qatar 2022.

He will not be the only compatriot that Lionel Messi will meet on North American soil since Julián Carranza (Philadelphia Union), Sebastián Driussi and Maxi Urruti (Austin), Luciano Acosta (Cincinnati), Emanuel Reynoso (Minnesota United), Cristian Espinoza ( San Jose Earthquakes), etc.

It will not coincide by very little with Gonzalo Higuaínwho hung up his boots last year precisely as a benchmark for Inter Miami.
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– Lionel Messi revolutionizes Inter Miami’s social networks
– Emelec loses points to Guaraní for South American
– Barcelona SC fell to Palmeiras in Libertadores
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