Whitecaps to face Inter Miami in key CONCACAF Champions Cup semi. Will Lionel Messi make the trip?

Jon Azpiri · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 10, 2025 11:19 PM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

The Vancouver Whitecaps are acceptable to big Inter Miami CF successful the archetypal limb of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal on April 24. 

The B.C. Major League Soccer team earned a spot successful the lucifer aft a 2-2 gully successful Mexico City against Liga MX nine Pumas UNAM. 

Whitecaps fans expressed joyousness aft the squad precocious successful the tourney that features the apical clubs from North America, Central America and the Caribbean, with immoderate optimistic that the archetypal leg will spot Inter Miami skipper Lionel Messi instrumentality the transportation astatine B.C. Place for the archetypal time.

The Argentine prima bowed retired of Miami's MLS regular play lucifer successful Vancouver past year, 2 days earlier kickoff.

Whitecaps instrumentality Tony Gabriel says helium was among thousands of fans disappointed that Messi failed to suit up for Miami's past scheduled crippled successful Vancouver, but he's hopeful the skipper volition travel this clip around, given the stakes.

WATCH | Messi's attendance chartless up of Inter Miami-Whitecaps match: 

"I'm 99 per cent definite he's going to come," Gabriel said. "He's going to come. He volition play, we volition triumph successful Vancouver."

Some fans taking a wait-and-see approach

Vancouver-based summons broker Kingsley Bailey says he's heard from shot fans who are taking a wait-and-see attack to buying tickets for the April 24 lucifer astatine B.C. Place fixed Messi's erstwhile no-show.

"The sentiment to maine is, we're not going to spell until we really cognize he's really landed, he's successful Vancouver, there's sightings," Bailey said.

Following the determination past May to have Messi miss the club's crippled in Vancouver, then-Miami manager Gerardo (Tata) Martino said the artificial turf astatine B.C. Place did not play a relation successful the decision. The Argentine prima has said helium is consenting to play connected synthetic playing surfaces. 

Peter Schaad, a shot podcaster and erstwhile Whitecaps broadcaster, says the circumstances astir this year's crippled are antithetic than past year's match.

The 2 teams met past play successful a regular play MLS game portion this month's crippled is the archetypal limb of a semifinal of a prestigious contention that volition see the champion automatically suffice for the FIFA Club World Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.

"I deliberation the value of this peculiar tourney and the signifier that it's astatine is going to heavy power whether [Messi] plays oregon not," Schaad said. "If you triumph this bid of 2 games, you're present successful the final, and that's truly important to Inter Miami. They privation to beryllium successful the champion competitions that are disposable to them."

The determination to remainder Messi past twelvemonth was based connected the club's schedule, which included three games betwixt May 25 and June 1. Miami is scheduled to play an MLS location crippled conscionable 2 days aft the April 24 match at B.C. Place.

Schaad notes that caller Miami manager Javier Mascherano may not privation to accidental resting Messi and different seasoned players successful a cardinal semifinal lucifer against the Whitecaps, who presently beryllium atop the MLS standings.

"If respective of the players are not coming due to the fact that they're older oregon for immoderate reason, that's risky due to the fact that the Whitecaps are bully astatine home," helium said. "And if the Whitecaps get a two- oregon three-goal pb successful that archetypal limb due to the fact that they're astatine home, that's hard to [overcome] ... when it comes down to a 2nd leg."

WATCH | Whitecaps owners accidental they're successful talks to physique caller stadium:

Schaad says the Whitecaps' occurrence in the CONCACAF Champions Cup — including wins implicit Mexican stalwarts Pumas UNAM and CF Monterrey — comes astatine a captious clip successful the club's history, with the squad up for merchantability and speech of gathering a caller stadium. 

"I anticipation that the metropolis does travel retired and engage, and they prosecute due to the fact that they privation to enactment the Whitecaps and not conscionable due to the fact that they privation to spot Lionel Messi, if helium does really travel to Vancouver," helium said.