Lionel Messi returns to Argentina: Inter Miami confirm preseason friendly vs River Plate

Lionel Messi is heading back to Argentina, sooner than expected after retiring from the national team. Inter Miami will travel to Buenos Aires to take on River Plate in a preseason friendly on Jan. 19, 2027, at Estadio Monumental, the same ground where he played his last match for his country.

COC Global is behind the production of the game, working alongside both clubs. Messi will share the field with his teammates Casemiro, Rodrigo De Paul, and Luis Suarez, and will face a River side that includes 2022 World Cup winners and former national team teammates Nicolas Otamendi, Angel Correa, and Thiago Almada, among others.

The trip will be a meaningful one for Messi, who will be back in a stadium tied to many of his moments with the Albiceleste. It will also give fans in Argentina the chance to see him play at home again, although this time in a shirt that is not the national team’s.

The friendly pairs two clubs whose profiles have grown quickly in recent years. Inter Miami have turned into a global brand in large part thanks to Messi’s arrival, while River has renovated and enlarged the Monumental, which is now among the best-attended stadiums in the world.

Luis Suarez’s inclusion in match promo hints at his future

Among the names highlighted for the trip to Buenos Aires is Luis Suarez, who appears in Inter Miami’s promotional material for the match and was also included in the club’s press release.

His presence stands out because the Uruguayan’s contract is set to expire on Dec. 31 of this year, while the match will be played in January 2027, which suggests the forward could renew his deal with the Herons.

A tribute River hasn’t forgotten

The reunion comes just over three months after River gave Messi a send-off that went beyond the usual courtesy between host and visitor. Before the match against Benin on Oct. 6, the club’s president, Stefano Di Carlo, named him an honorary member and handed him a membership card, a plaque, and a personalized No. 10 shirt created for River’s 125th anniversary.

Messi answered with a present of his own: the jersey he wore that night, signed with a message for the fans, which now hangs in the club’s museum. That exchange sets the tone for January, when he will line up as a rival but in front of a crowd that has already shown how it feels about him.