While Lionel Scaloni and the rest of Argentina's World Cup squad touched down to a military band and red carpet welcome, Messi was already back in Miami. He didn't make the trip home. Neither did most of his club teammates.
It's not a snub. It's logistics. Messi plays for Inter Miami, lives in Florida, and after 120 minutes in a World Cup final — his last, by most accounts — the man needed a bed, not a connecting flight to Buenos Aires.
Who stayed back and who went home
The Argentine Football Association confirmed before departure that several players would not be returning with the squad. Alongside Messi, Rodrigo De Paul — also an Inter Miami player — was among those who remained in the United States. The full list of absentees from the homecoming flight reads like a who's who of Argentina's first eleven:
- Rodrigo De Paul
- Enzo Fernández
- Lautaro Martínez
- Julián Álvarez
- Cristian Romero
- Gerónimo Rulli
- Nicolás Paz
- Nahuel Molina Lucero
- Juan Musso
Most of these players are based in Europe and have club preseasons to deal with. The diaspora of Argentina's squad across leagues and continents makes a full-squad homecoming almost impossible at this stage of the calendar.
What this means for Inter Miami
The defeat to Spain stings, but for Inter Miami's schedule, it comes with a silver lining — Messi and De Paul are home sooner than expected. That said, don't expect either of them on the pitch anytime soon. Sources indicate both will miss Miami's match against Chicago Fire on July 22 and the CF Montréal fixture on July 25.
Two games without Messi in MLS is barely a footnote at club level, but anyone tracking Inter Miami's form and playoff positioning should factor in the rust that comes after a World Cup run followed by forced rest. He played the full 120 minutes in the final. The body has limits, even his.
Argentina fans in Buenos Aires still turned out in numbers to greet the returning squad — respectable, given the outcome wasn't a repeat of 2022. Scaloni got his welcome home. Messi got his couch. Both probably needed exactly that.
