{"id":538240,"date":"2026-03-15T15:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T15:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/538240\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T15:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T15:33:11","slug":"lionel-messi-could-end-up-replacing-cristiano-ronaldo-as-main-attraction-at-renewed-estadio-azteca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/538240\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi could end up replacing Cristiano Ronaldo as main attraction at renewed Estadio Azteca"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/cristiano-ronaldo\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cristiano Ronaldo<\/a>\u2019s Portugal will face Mexico in the March international window for the grand reopening of the Estadio Azteca. However, with Ronaldo questionable for the match, Marca notes a scenario where Lionel Messi could take the spotlight at the renewed stadium soon if Inter Miami and Club America meet at the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">The Liga MX giants reportedly intend to return to the iconic stadium after the March international window, and if they progress to the quarterfinals, <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/inter-miami\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Inter Miami<\/a> could be their next opponents.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">The Estadio Azteca was completely remodeled for the 2026 World Cup, and the reopening will be with Mexico hosting <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/portugal\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Portugal<\/a> on Saturday, March 28.<\/p>\n<p>Ronaldo\u2019s injury makes Estadio Azteca appearance uncertain<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">Ronaldo\u2019s current injury with Al Nassr has put his availability for the Mexico fixture in doubt, which could leave the game without its biggest attraction besides the reopening of the stadium itself.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ronaldo-goal-1920x1080.webp.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-598278\"\/>Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates a goal for Portugal. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">The Portuguese star is currently in Madrid undergoing rehabilitation after suffering a hamstring injury. While there is no exact return date, CR7 is expected to return to action in early April, making his presence at the Estadio Azteca highly unlikely.<\/p>\n<p>Messi, Inter Miami could meet Club America at 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">If Ronaldo doesn\u2019t show up, fans in Mexico can still hope for a <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/lionel-messi\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Messi<\/a> appearance a few days after the Portugal friendly, but it will all depend on whether Club America and Inter Miami get the job done in the round of 16.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">While the Mexican side won the first leg 1-0 against the Philadelphia Union, <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/soccer\/nashville-sc-vs-inter-miami-live-lionel-messi-starts-quest-for-2026-concacaf-champions-cup\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Messi and company were held to a scoreless draw by Nashville<\/a>. Both America and Inter Miami are playing their respective second legs at home on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"break-word\">The first legs of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals will take place from April 7-9, with the return legs scheduled for April 14-16. In the event they both advance, Club America would host the second leg.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"leading-none\" href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/staff\/gtaina\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Gianni-80x80.webp.webp\" alt=\"Gianni Taina\" width=\"80\" height=\"80\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"rounded-full\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-[14px] leading-[20px] min-h-[72px] md:min-h-[52px] mt-[10px] font-authorSignatureDescription hidden md:block\">Gianni Taina is a bilingual journalist, fluent in English and Spanish, with a specialization in soccer, the NBA, and tennis. He began his professional career in 2020 with Mundo Deportivo US, where he first established himself as a writer. Throughout his career, Gianni has covered major sports events such as the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the NBA Finals, and Grand Slam tournaments like the French Open. His ability to report on real-time events and perform well under pressure has made him a valuable member of a top-tier team of journalists. In 2024, he joined Bolavip US, where he now covers a wide range of sports, including European soccer, MLS, and the NBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s Portugal will face Mexico in the March international window for the grand reopening of the Estadio&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,210407,3635,10882,10884,11546,561,82],"class_list":["post-538240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-concacaf-champions-league","tag-cristiano-ronaldo","tag-inter-miami","tag-lionel-messi","tag-portugal","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}