Alarm Bells Ring as Messi's Injury Threatens Inter Miami's Club World Cup Dreams

Just days before Inter Miami begins their campaign in the expanded Club World Cup, their key player Lionel Messi was unable to complete Argentina's qualifying match against Colombia.

This immediately raised concerns about Messi's fitness for the upcoming fixture against Egyptian champions Al Ahly, which marks the opening of FIFA president Gianni Infantino's ambitious tournament.

Argentina's coach Lionel Scaloni confirmed that Messi requested to be taken off, though he didn't specify the exact reason. The iconic captain started in Tuesday's 1-1 draw at River Plate's Monumental Stadium but left the field in the 78th minute.

At that stage, the world champions were trailing by a goal and playing with ten men. Luis Díaz had opened the scoring in the first half with a brilliant solo effort, and Argentina's situation worsened when Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández was shown a straight red card for a dangerous high challenge.

Scaloni later clarified that the substitution was Messi's own decision. "Leo wasn't planning to come off, but he eventually did toward the end," the manager explained to reporters after Thiago Almada secured a draw for Argentina.

"He [Messi] informed me it would be better for him to be substituted, so we made that change. What's impressive is that even with 10 players and without Messi, we continued pushing forward and never gave up. That gives us great satisfaction."

The exact nature of Messi's issue—if there was one—remains undisclosed. Since Argentina has already qualified for the World Cup, the substitution might have been precautionary with his club responsibilities in mind. Inter Miami's group also includes European side Porto and Brazilian champions Palmeiras, making their opening match against Al Ahly potentially their most favorable opportunity to secure a victory this summer.