{"id":284253,"date":"2026-05-26T01:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T01:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/284253\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T01:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T01:01:09","slug":"messi-injury-update-hamstring-issue-clouds-world-cup-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/284253\/","title":{"rendered":"Messi injury update: hamstring issue clouds World Cup hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"responsive-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MIA_InterMiami5-25-26AGS239.JPG\"   width=\"1200\" height=\"674\" title=\"Inter Miami CF midfielder Leo Messi (10) takes the ball passed Philadelphia Union defender Geiner Mart\u00ednez (2) during the second half of a game on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park in Miami, Fla. Inter Miami CF won 6-4.\" alt=\"Inter Miami CF midfielder Leo Messi (10) takes the ball passed Philadelphia Union defender Geiner Mart\u00ednez (2) during the second half of a game on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park in Miami, Fla. Inter Miami CF won 6-4.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        Inter Miami CF midfielder Leo Messi (10) takes the ball passed Philadelphia Union defender Geiner Mart\u00ednez (2) during the second half of a game on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park in Miami, Fla. Inter Miami CF won 6-4.<\/p>\n<p>                Alie Skowronski<\/p>\n<p>Lionel Messi\u2019s status for the start of the 2026 World Cup is in doubt after Inter Miami confirmed the Argentine star is dealing with a hamstring issue.<\/p>\n<p>The club announced late Monday afternoon that the reason he exited the field before the end of Sunday\u2019s 6-4 win over the Philadelphia Union is that he felt \u201cphysical discomfort\u201d. Medical tests Monday indicate he is dealing with \u201can overload associated with muscle fatigue in his left hamstring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The timeline for his return to physical activity will depend on his clinical and functional progress, the team statement said.<\/p>\n<p>Messi could be seen touching the back of his left thigh after a free kick in the 70th minute on Sunday. He went straight to the tunnel and into the locker room with Inter Miami and the Philadelphia Union tied 4-4 after combining for an MLS-record eight first half goals. Mateo Silvetti replaced him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHonestly, as an Argentinean, I\u2019m concerned like everyone else, I tried to see how he was doing after the game, but did not see him in the locker room,\u201d said Silvetti, who is from Messi\u2019s hometown of Rosario. \u201cI don\u2019t know if he was with the medical staff or if he went home. At the moment he left, we were all concentrating on the game, so I wasn\u2019t thinking about if it was for an injury or because he was tired.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Argentina, the defending World Cup champion, begins defense of its title June 16 against Algeria in Kansas City, and then faces Austria June 22 and Jordan June 27, both in Arlington, Texas. The team will also play two pre-tournament friendlies against Honduras on June 6, and Iceland on June 9.<\/p>\n<p>        Related Stories from  Miami Herald<\/p>\n<p>                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/218644770\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779757269_514_Michelle Kaufman.jpeg\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" alt=\"Profile Image of Michelle Kaufman\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <a class=\"author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/profile\/218644770\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Michelle Kaufman<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Miami Herald<\/p>\n<p>            Miami Herald sportswriter Michelle Kaufman has covered 14 Olympics, six World Cups, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, NCAA Basketball Tournaments, NBA Playoffs, Super Bowls and has been the soccer writer and University of Miami basketball beat writer for 25 years. She was born in Frederick, Md., and grew up in Miami.\n            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inter Miami CF midfielder Leo Messi (10) takes the ball passed Philadelphia Union defender Geiner Mart\u00ednez (2) during&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-284253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}