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Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are set for a challenging and potentially historic encounter as they face Sporting Kansas City in the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup — and not exactly for its exciting head-to-head entertainment potential. Get ready for snow, Messi.
Inter Miami and Sporting KC Concacaf Champions Cup match to be played under snow
According to reports, the match between Kansas City and Miami on Tuesday will be held under potentially freezing conditions, with the forecast predicting temperatures as low as 8 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to the weather forecast in Kansas City, Lionel Messi will play in snowy conditions on Tuesday (18/02), with temperatures expected to be around -13°C.pic.twitter.com/w9OE59bScs
— Inter Miami News Hub (@Intermiamicfhub) February 16, 2025
This could be a rare sight in Messi’s career, as it would mark just the second time the Argentine star has played in snowy conditions. The most-recent instance occurred in 2021 when Messi bagged a hat trick of assists for Paris Saint-Germain in a snow-covered Ligue 1 match against Saint-Etienne. However, cold weather isn’t exactly of Messi's liking.
'Lionel Messi doesn't like playing in the cold' — Luis Suárez reveals Argentine's 'kryptonite'
His longtime FC Barcelona and now Inter Miami teammate, Luis Suárez, revealed that Messi had a difficult time playing in the cold during his time in the Ligue 1, especially when snow was involved.
"Messi told me that he suffered a lot from playing in the cold, and especially in the snow. He has to get used to the cold there [in France]," Suárez told TNT Sports.
For the players' sake, Sporting KC's Children's Mercy Park is perhaps the stadium who is most-capable of controlling cold and snowy conditions, as the venue holds a state of the art electric field heating system.
Things are heating up in #TheBlueHell!
State of the art electric field heating system installation is underway - the first of its kind in a professional stadium in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/wTAMlv7lIy— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) January 8, 2019
This Champions Cup match marks the beginning of Inter Miami's 2025 season after a lengthy preseason preparation across Latin America. With Messi’s less-than-enthusiastic relationship with cold weather, it remains to be seen how the conditions will impact his performance in Miami’s first competitive match of the year.
