Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni received positive news from Inter Miami manager Tata Martino about the availability of his star player Lionel Messi. Messi hasn’t appeared for Argentina since their victorious Copa America 2024 final against Colombia, in July. He suffered an ankle ligament injury and had to depart the field in the second-half.

Messi has returned to action for Inter Miami, and has already played in three matches. On his return in the first match, he bagged a brace vs Philadelphia Union in a 3-1 win, which saw his tally for the season go to 14 MLS goals and 14 assists.

Due to his injury, he also missed the September international window. On Friday, Martino said, “In addition to the games with us he has the games with the Argentinian national team.”

Stating that Messi would be in full fitness for the MLS playoffs, Martino said, “Leo is going to get better and better as he adds 90 minutes.”

“Obviously, Leo does not need to do differentiated physical work in training, but he needs a rhythm of competition, which gives me the idea that he is going to reach the playoffs very well because in addition to the games with us he has the games with the Argentinian national team. So we have high hopes that he will come into the play-offs in very good shape.”

Miami are currently on top of the Eastern Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings, with 64 points in 30 matches. They are also set to break the MLS record for most points registered in a single season.

“Obviously this week we are in a decisive position to try to be first overall. We will see how the games progress and what the needs are that we are having. It works well to prioritize the search for the objective first, especially because after these three games come the FIFA date, some players will obviously continue competing, but the rest of us have a week to recover, so we are going to prioritize the three games,” Martino said.