SI

Lionel Messi and Patrick Mahomes Link Up Ahead of Inter Miami-Sporting KC Clash

Patrick Andres

Apr 6, 2024; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi (10) looks on.
Apr 6, 2024; Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA; Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi (10) looks on. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
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If you're talking about the great athletes of the 21st century—the athletes who have fused fame, influence and dominance, and without whom the story of modern sports cannot be told—you are not going to go far before running into Lionel Messi and Patrick Mahomes.

On the one hand, you have possibly the greatest soccer player ever to live—the centerpiece of the Barcelona dynasty, and the author of Argentina's storybook victory in the 2022 World Cup final.

On the other, you have perhaps the most talented player ever to play the most important position in America's most popular sport.

Thus, Messi and Mahomes's meeting Saturday evening was quiet, yet transcendent.

"What's up, man?" Messi greeted Mahomes before Inter Miami's game against Sporting KC, of whose ownership group the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback is a part.

"Good luck, man. Have fun out there," Mahomes said.

Regardless of the result of the contest, fans in attendance for this constellation of greatness were the winners.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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