A television channel in the United States did something no one expected to see at a World Cup: interrupt its broadcast to clarify, on screen, that Lionel Messi does NOT represent the U.S. national team. 🤯
The text they aired read verbatim: “Although he is an Inter Miami player, his national team is Argentina and he is not eligible to play for the United States.” Yes, right in 2026, with the world’s most-watched sport underway, a channel felt that needed to be explained. The reason behind the embarrassment is the same one that turned Messi into an absolute celebrity in North America since his arrival at Inter Miami: his popularity grew so much that part of the local audience came to mistake him for a local player. 🫣
And the ultimate irony: while that channel was clarifying who Messi was, the 39-year-old Argentine was already at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City doing exactly what he has always done — playing for Argentina and destroying rivals. 🇦🇷🔥
