The greatest football player of all-time deserves better than finishing his professional career in an American soccer league.
And as brilliant as Lionel Messi was in Argentina's 3-0 World Cup-opening win on Tuesday at Arrowhead Stadium -- and, boy, was Leo brilliant -- it's a darned shame that the living legend will go back to MLS when the biggest sports tournament in history is over.
Messi scored three goals and could've had a couple more
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Messi scored three goals and could've had a couple moreCredit: getty
Messi reminds the world he's the GOAT
"Honestly, 38 years young," said former Chelsea defenderScott Minto on talkSPORT commentary.
"OK, he hasn't quite got the legs of picking up the ball in his own half and going past the whole of the opposition. But he's so clever."
Messi is so smooth, so cool and so intelligent on the pitch that he's already answered a huge question just as the 2026 World Cup is warming up.
Could he do this again at an elite level?
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That was a real and pressing Q after Messi finally won the biggest trophy of all and Argentina broke France's heart in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar.
On Tuesday inside the NFL home of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Messi earned a goat emoji from the three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback.
Then Mahomes made it an official GOAT, tweeting out three of the emojis at once.
"Nobody greater than Messi," one fan tweeted.
"Ball recognizes ball," a second fan wrote.
GOAT could still dominate in Europe's top leagues
"How’s it feel to know you’ll always be the second-best football player to ever play at Arrowhead now?" posted a third fan, in a sharp zing at the face of the NFL.
Lionel Messi is too great to be wasting the end of his career in MLS
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Messi is too great to be wasting the end of his pro career in MLSCredit: getty
This fan had a memorable night at Arrowhead Stadium
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This fan had a memorable night at Arrowhead StadiumCredit: getty
But shouldn't the best international football player of all-time and a reigning World Cup champion be leading a pro team in the Premier League?
If you're a super-proud Arsenal supporter and insist that Messi would be wasting his 38-year-old, World Cup hat-trick talent in a super physical league dominated by intense set pieces, then what about La Liga (Spain) or Serie A (Italy) for Leo?
The unarguable fact is that Major League Soccer still isn't close to cracking the European 'Big Five,' despite all the strides made by a league that was born from the sport-changing success of the 1994 World Cup in the USA.
Messi is light years beyond 'normal' MLS players, while his league-high $28.3 million annual contract with Inter Miami is almost triple that of second-ranked Los Angeles FC forward Son Heung-min ($11.1m), who exited Tottenham before the Spurs fought their way out of a tense Premier League relegation battle.
Leo is too good for low-level MLS
"I know the Premier League is very good and I watch the matches on TV when I get the chance," Messi said in 2010, when he was dominating La Liga with Barcelona.
"I admire the strength of the players, it is very English - they play to the end, with a lot of spirit and determination, and the fans are very good and fair.
Coming to America
"But for me, I cannot see myself playing in England because my heart is with Barcelona, always. They are a great club - I love the club, the people, everything."
He spent 17 seasons with Barca and scored 474 goals.
He was linked in rumors to a Manchester City leap and a reunion with Pep Guardiola.
But Messi eventually joined Paris Saint-Germain for two seasons, then dropped down to MLS after finally winning the World Cup and pushing Kylian Mbappe aside.
"This is a fantastic opportunity and together we will continue to build this beautiful project," Messi said in July 2023, after joining David Beckham's Inter Miami project.
'Messi Effect' hasn't lifted MLS into elite
"The idea is to work together to achieve the objectives we set and I'm very eager to start helping here in my new home."
A state-of-the-art $1 billion stadium is proof of Messi's USA impact.
Even Patrick Mahomes was in awe of Leo
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Even Patrick Mahomes was in awe of LeoCredit: getty
Messi is loved in Argentina, Miami and Spain
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Messi is loved in Argentina, Miami and SpainCredit: getty
He's undoubtedly helped grow and magnify the beautiful game in America, and his World Cup hat trick inside Arrowhead Stadium was both a brilliant national and international story.
But even with the Messi Effect, MLS is still an afterthought among the majority of US sports fans, while soccer can't touch the overwhelming power of American football in the USA.
The NBA, MLB, NCAA football and NCAA basketball also easily trump MLS, which ranks around 15th among football/soccer leagues in the world.
If Messi is happier in MLS than anywhere else on the planet as a pro, more power to him.
But it's still a darned shame that the football player whom Mahomes tweeted was a GOAT is winding down his legacy in an American soccer league that barely shows up on ESPN and can't crack Europe's top-five.
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