Yahoo Sports Messi, Inter Miami to play preseason games in Peru, Panama, Honduras. Here are details
They won’t be traveling as far as they did last preseason, but Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates will still have an unusually busy schedule in the coming weeks as the team kicks off training camp Monday to begin preparations for the 2025 season.
The club on Friday announced details of its “Americas Preseason Tour”, which will include five matches across North, South and Central America.
In addition to previously announced games in Las Vegas Jan. 18 against Mexican champion Club America and a Feb. 14 game against Orlando City in Tampa, the team will play matches in Peru, Panama and Honduras.
After the Las Vegas game, the team will travel to Peru to play back-to-back champions Club Universitario de Deportes. The match will take place Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. at the Estadio Monumental in Lima with capacity for over 80,000 fans.
Universitario is the most successful team in Peruvian history with 28 league titles. It will be the second time Inter Miami faces them in a preseason match following a 4-0 win over the Peruvians at Chase Stadium in January of 2022.
From Lima, Inter Miami heads to Panama City to face Sporting San Miguelito at Estadio Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez on Feb. 2 at 5 p.m.
The next stop on the tour is San Pedro Sula, Honduras, where Miami will play Olimpia at the Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano on Feb. 8 at 8 p.m. Olimpia has won 38 league titles, two Concacaf Champions Cup titles, and two Concacaf League titles.
Inter Miami heads back to Florida after that to wrap up the preseason against cross-state rival Orlando City at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
“We’re very excited to unveil the five matches against domestic and international opponents across the Americas that will prepare us for a highly anticipated 2025,” Raul Sanllehi, Inter Miami’s president of football operations. “These fixtures will put us in the best possible position ahead of an unparalleled campaign with various competitions we’re playing for this year — the FIFA Club World Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup, Leagues Cup and MLS.”
The first game that counts will be Inter Miami’s opening Concacaf Champions Cup match on the road against Sporting Kansas City on Feb. 18. Miami kicks off the MLS regular season Feb. 22 at home against New York City FC (2:30 p.m.) and three days later hosts Sporting KC in the home leg of the Champions Cup.
Inter Miami first-year coach Javier Mascherano, who replaced Tata Martino last month, said he is concerned that the team does not yet have a full roster.
“We won’t have much time to prepare for the first preseason match in Las Vegas, but what worries me more is whether we can sign a few more reinforcement players in time because we are very short-handed at this point,” Mascherano said Thursday at MLS Media Day. “Six players have left and for a first game we will need more than 11 players, so that is what is what I am focusing on at the moment.”
Among the key players who left: Diego Gomez (to Brighton in the English Premier League), Matias Rojas (to River Plate in Argentina), and Leo Campana (to New England Revolution). So far, the only signing is 33-year-old Haitian-American forward Fafa Picault, who grew up in South Florida and most recently played for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Mascherano hinted that a few other signings are imminent. Journalist Fabrizio Romano reported Friday that Inter Miami has reached an agreement with 21-year-old Venezuelan midfielder Telasco Segovia of Portugal’s Casa Pia.
Messi, Inter Miami 2025 Preseason Schedule:
Jan. 18 (10 p.m. ET) | Club América | Allegiant Stadium | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Jan. 29 (8 p.m. ET) | Club Universitario de Deportes | Estadio Monumental | Lima, Peru
Feb. 2 (5 p.m. ET) | Sporting San Miguelito | Estadio Rommel Fernández Gutiérrez | Panama City, Panama
Feb. 8 (8 p.m. ET) | Club Deportivo Olimpia | Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano | San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Feb. 14 (7:30 p.m. ET) | Orlando City SC | Raymond James Stadium | Tampa, Florida, United States
