LEAGUES CUP 2023
What tournament has Inter Miami qualified for reaching the Leagues Cup final?
Inter Miami have booked their place in the Concachampions, meaning the Argentinean star could finally play a competitive match in Mexico.
Inter Miami have booked their place in the Leagues Cup final, where they will face Nashville, and that means David Beckham’s side have also qualified for the Concachampions 2023-2024, meaning star forward Leo Messi has the possibility of playing, for the first time, a competitive match in Mexico.
In November of last year, Concacaf announced changes to the Concachampions competition format, so that, starting in the 2023-2024 edition, the tournament will have 27 teams taking part: 22 competing in Phase One and five qualifiers waiting in the next round of the round of 16.
Qualification to the first round will be determined through three zonal tournaments: one in North America, another in Central America and the last one in the Caribbean.
How did Inter Miami qualify for Conchachampions?
With these modifications, Inter Miami have already secured their place in the Concachampions by becoming a finalist in the Leagues Cup, however it remains to be seen in which phase they will start their participation.
Under the new regulations, if Messi’s team wins the Leagues Cup, they will become one of the five clubs who qualify, directly, to the round of 16 of the Concachampions.
However, where Nashville defeat Inter Miami in the final then the team led by Gerardo Martino, as runner-up, will have to play in Phase One of the Concacaf Champions League.
Will Leo Messi play in Mexico?
Given Inter Miami’s certain place in the tournament there is a high chance Leo Messi will play on Mexican soil, although that also depends on how the groups are decided for the tournament.
There are six Mexican teams qualified for the Concachampions and any of them could face Messi's Inter Miami: Pachuca, Toluca, Tigres, Chivas, América and Monterrey.
It should be remembered that, during his career, Messi has played twice in Mexico, although both were in non-competitive friendly matches.
In 2011, the Argentine played an exhibition match at the Ciudad de los Deportes stadium, in CDMX, in support of his foundation.
A year later, Leo returned to Mexico to play another charity game in Cancun, Quintana Roo.