After Inter Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras on Monday (06.23.25), The Herons came in second place in Group A, and are now due to play against Les Parisiens in the last 16 following PSG’s 2-0 victory against Seattle Sounders in Group B.

With both teams qualifying for the knockout stage, Messi, 38, will now do battle with PSG on Sunday (06.29.25) for the first time since he left the club in 2023.

As well as Messi, Inter Miami’s Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and manager Javier Mascherano will come up against their former coach Luis Enrique, who led them to a treble with Barcelona in 2015.

Following Inter Miami's match against Palmeiras, Alba said: “I'm proud of the team, and now we're competing against a top team like PSG. It’s great. For me, they're playing the best football in Europe, and well, it's obviously a very difficult match, but we're going to try to compete.

“Why not dream of beating the European champion? It will be very difficult. We know the quality of all the players, and for me, Luis Enrique is the best coach in the world. I know him very well.”

The defender added PSG would be a hard side for Inter Miami to overcome, and called them “the most complete team” in the tournament.

He said: “This is football, and it's 90-something minutes, and well, why not dream?

“They're [PSG] the ones who play the best football today. They're very versatile, with very good wide players, and guys in midfield who have the ball.

“Overall, they're the most complete team, for me. We'll see how far we can go and try to compete.”

Following Inter Miami’s shock win against Porto last week, Tadeo Allende gave his side an early lead against Palmeiras with a 16th-minute goal, followed by a second from Suarez in the 65th minute.

Vice City was close to securing the top spot in Group A, but conceded two late goals from Jose Paulinho in the 80th minute, and Mauricio Prado in the 87th minute - allowing Palmeiras to top the group.