Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF visit Sporting Kansas City on Saturday evening, a cross-conference match that'll be played before potentially a record-setting crowd.
How to watch & stream
When
- Saturday, April 13 | 8:30 pm ET/5:30 pm PT
Where
- GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium | Kansas City, Missouri
Sporting KC normally contest home matches at Children's Mercy Park, their soccer-specific stadium that opened in 2011. But with Messi and Miami coming to town, Sporting KC moved this game to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium – home of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs.
A spectacle awaits, with upwards of 70,000-plus fans expected for this MLS Matchday 9 fixture.
History abounds for Sporting KC, who played their first 12 MLS seasons at Arrowhead. That run includes the club's first-ever match, held 28 years ago (April 13, 1996) at the American football venue.
Then known as the Kansas City Wizards, the club last played at Arrowhead on July 25, 2010. They defeated famed Premier League side Manchester United, 2-1, that day in a friendly before 52,424 fans.
Flash forward to the 2024 MLS season and Sporting KC hope to rebound from recent stumbles. An early-season trend of dropped points surfaced last Sunday, when a 3-0 lead turned into a 3-3 draw with the Portland Timbers.
SKC manager Peter Vermes must also determine if forward Alan Pulido slots into the starting XI. The Mexican star returned from injury last weekend with a 19-minute substitute appearance, all while Willy Agada rounds into form (3g/1a in last three matches).
Inter Miami are winless in their last five matches across all competitions (0W-3L-2D), including a Concacaf Champions Cup ouster on Wednesday evening. They lost 3-1 at Liga MX powerhouse CF Monterrey, dropping their quarterfinal series 5-2 on aggregate.
The silver lining is Messi's back from a hamstring injury, returning last weekend for a 45-minute substitute shift and then going the full 90 midweek. That leaves him hoping to build off 4g/4a in four league matches this season.
For Inter Miami, a get-right result would go a long way. Maybe Messi or someone else in their Big Four – Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suárez – will deliver the magical moment? Or perhaps it's a supporting talent like Julian Gressel or Diego Gómez?
