--- title: "Messi and De Paul to Rest for Two Inter Miami Games" description: "Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul will sit out Inter Miami's next two matches after reaching the World Cup final with Argentina, sources told ESPN. The rest is in line with a players' union recommendation of a break at the end of a long season." category: "Sports" category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/sports author: "Lucas Silva" published: 2026-07-20T22:33:14.000Z updated: 2026-07-20T22:33:14.000Z canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/messi-and-de-paul-to-rest-for-two-inter-miami-games tags: ["lionel-messi", "inter-miami", "mls", "football"] --- # Messi and De Paul to Rest for Two Inter Miami Games Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul will sit out Inter Miami's next two matches after reaching the World Cup final with Argentina, sources told ESPN. The rest is in line with a players' union recommendation of a break at the end of a long season. Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul will not play in Inter Miami's next two matches, [sources told ESPN](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49410927/messi-de-paul-hiatus-next-2-miami-games). The club has not made an official announcement, so this is a report, not a confirmed team decision, and should be read as one. ## What is reported The two are said to be sitting out the games against Chicago Fire on Wednesday and at CF Montréal on Saturday. Both were also ruled out of the Major League Soccer All-Star game on July 29. The reason is rest. Messi and De Paul both played deep into the World Cup with Argentina, reaching the final that Argentina lost to Spain on Sunday, and are now taking a break before returning to club football. ESPN frames the absence against a specific standard: FIFPRO, the global players' union, recommends a 21-day rest period at the end of a season. The report notes it is not yet clear whether the two will be unavailable for the whole of that window, which is why the confirmed part is two league games and the All-Star fixture rather than a fixed return date. ## Why this is a real issue, not a courtesy It would be easy to treat a rest story as filler. It is closer to the central labour dispute in modern football. The calendar has expanded relentlessly. An expanded World Cup, more club competitions and longer seasons have pushed the best players toward playing something close to year-round, and the people who study the physical toll, including the players' union, have been warning that the workload is unsustainable. FIFPRO's 21-day recommendation exists precisely because the schedule no longer builds in the recovery that the human body needs. Set against that, two players who have just finished a World Cup final sitting out two club games is not indulgence. It is the recommendation being followed, more or less, in one specific case. ## The awkward part for the league There is a tension here that Inter Miami and MLS have to manage, and it is worth naming. Messi is, commercially, the reason a large share of the league's new attention exists. Fans buy tickets to games months in advance on the expectation of seeing him, and a mid-season rest means some of them will not. The club has reportedly informed the league of the players' unavailability, which is the correct process, but it does not resolve the underlying friction between protecting a 39-year-old player and satisfying an audience that came specifically for him. That tension is not unique to Miami; every club with an overworked star faces a version of it. But it is sharper here because so much of the league's growth is attached to one player, and a rule designed to protect players collides most visibly with the commercial interest in the one player people most want to watch. For now the reported facts are narrow: two games, one All-Star appearance, and a recovery window whose full length is not yet fixed. Anything beyond that is not yet confirmed. ## Sources - [Sources: Messi, De Paul on hiatus for next 2 Miami games](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49410927/messi-de-paul-hiatus-next-2-miami-games)