The inevitable reunion between Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain is almost upon us, as the Argentine’s Inter Miami side square up to the European champions in tomorrow’s Club World Cup last-16 clash.
Thanks to one special free kick from the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner against Porto, Inter Miami nabbed second spot in Group A behind Palmeiras and are yet to suffer defeat at the revamped summer tournament in 2025.
Meanwhile, PSG’s shock loss to Botafogo on matchday two did not prevent them from topping Group B, and Les Parisiens now renew hostilities with a foe who scored plenty for them and a few against them in European football.
A frequent foe of PSG – as he was with many European teams during his prime – Messi faced Les Parisiens a total of 10 times in a Barcelona kit, with all of those contests coming in the Champions League.
The Argentine superstar came out on the winning side on four occasions, while suffering three defeats and an equal number of draws, two of which occurred in the 2012-13 Champions League quarter-finals.
Messi battled PSG for the first time 12 years ago and marked his maiden match against them with the opening goal in a 2-2 first-leg draw, before Barca progressed on away goals following a 1-1 stalemate in the corresponding fixture.
En route to the 2014-15 Champions League title, Barcelona and PSG collided in both the group stage and quarter-finals, and Messi was on target in each of the two matches in the former phase.
The South American also helped Barca on their way to a 5-1 aggregate quarter-final success, albeit only contributing to one of those strikes, setting up future Parisiens teammate Neymar in a 3-1 first-leg away win.
Two years down the line, in the 2016-17 last 16, Messi inevitably had his say in the extraordinary remontada, scoring Barcelona’s third of six strikes in the Blaugrana’s mesmerising comeback triumph at Camp Nou.
From that raucous atmosphere to the behind-closed-doors era, Barcelona and PSG locked horns at the same stage in the 2020-21 last 16, and Messi made the net bulge on both occasions there too.
However, his opener at Camp Nou preceded a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick masterclass in a 4-1 defeat, and his long-range goal in a 1-1 second-leg stalemate was also inconsequential as Barcelona crashed out.
In a related development, Messi, arguably the most recognizable player in the Club World Cup, is steering viewership to his underdog team.
Messi and his Inter Miami teammates are helping the expanded tournament draw U.S. television ratings that are roughly comparable to those of the Premier League in the recently concluded season.
Club World Cup broadcasts in English on TNT Sports (TNT, TBS and truTV) were averaging 360,000 through Wednesday, per Sports Media Watch. Sports Business Journal noted that the highly popular Premier League drew 394,000 per match on USA Network in the 2024-25 season.
Only a small number of Club World Cup are carried by TNT Sports, with all matches available on DAZN.
Three of the top seven English-language telecasts on TNT Sports featured Inter Miami, led by 676,000 tuning in to see the Major League Soccer side draw 2-2 with Brazil’s Palmeiras on Monday. The Miami matches attracted even larger viewership on Spanish-language broadcasts.
Inter Miami drew 0-0 with Egypt’s Al Ahly (371,000 viewers), then earned an upset 2-1 win over Portugal’s Porto (349,000) before the tie with Palmeiras. Those results allowed Messi & Co. to finish second in Group A, setting up a Round of 16 matchup with Paris Saint-Germain that should be a rating bonanza.
The tomorrow’s contest in Atlanta pits Messi against the team he represented immediately before coming to Miami. And PSG are the newly crowned winners of the UEFA Champions League, the most prestigious continental club tournament.
According to Sports Media Watch, the CONCACAF Gold Cup matchup on Sunday between the U.S. men’s national team and Haiti attracted an audience of 1.2 million viewers on Fox. The U.S. won 2-1 to finish atop its group and set up a Sunday quarterfinal contest against Costa Rica in Minneapolis.
