TORONTO — Winless in six games across all competitions, Toronto FC faces the unenviable task of hosting Lionel Messi and Inter Miami at BMO Field on Saturday afternoon.
Messi had 29 goals in 28 games last season en route to being named the league’s MVP and guiding the Herons to their first MLS Cup, and he’s in fine form once again this year. The World Cup winner and eight-time FIFA world player of the year has eight goals and a pair of assists in 10 matches to begin the 2026 campaign, and he’s coming off a performance last week in which he had three goal contributions in a 4-3 home loss to Orlando City.
But the Argentine ace has been relatively muted in four previous contests against Toronto with just one goal, raising hopes that TFC can earn their first win since April 4.
What’s the key to stopping “the best who’s ever played the game,” as Toronto coach Robin Fraser put it?
“I think about the old Michael Jordan expression: you can’t stop him; we can only hope to contain him. I think that the same could be said [about Messi]. …Certainly, you have to pay attention to him and know where he is and defend him really well,” Fraser explained.
It’s a sentiment echoed by veteran centre-back Walker Zimmerman, who’ll be front and centre on Saturday trying to limit the havoc wreaked by Messi.
Zimmerman, a two-time MLS defender of the year before joining TFC last off-season as a free agent, has first-hand experience facing Messi during his time with his previous club, Nashville SC.
“You obviously know that his quality in front of goal is special, and so [you try] to limit the amount of times that he has a free lane to shoot or make a final pass. That’s easier said than done, but I think [if] you can limit the shots on goal, then you’re limiting the chances he has to score,” Zimmerman said.
“Certainly, there are going to be times where he’s going to make great plays. He’s a great player. There are going to be moments that we’re going to have to defend and scramble a little bit to make a big play, because he’s going to create some chances, for sure.”
At the same time, the American defender cautions that you can’t spend your entire time focusing on Messi. It’s about containing Messi while also not losing sight of the big picture, especially because Miami has so many other dangerous attacking weapons at its disposal, including Luis Suárez and Telasco Segovia.
“There’s no denying [Messi’s] talent; his ability to change the game at any given point in time. He just raises awareness of all the people that play against him because anytime you’re in an individual moment, you’re like, ‘I’m gonna stop him.’ And that can be good or bad. I’ve seen it go both ways,” Zimmerman said.
He added: “I think the way that we manage [Messi] is to try and stay as a collective; just focused on the task at hand, which is a team sport. It’s Toronto against Miami. It’s not Toronto against Messi. It’s not me against Messi. … Obviously, they have other pieces as well that are dangerous, so you can’t just then put too much focus on one player.”
Messi always draws big crowds whenever Inter Miami hits the road, and Saturday’s contest will be no exception.
BMO Field normally seats just over 28,000 fans, but its capacity has been expanded to 45,736 seats with the addition of two temporary stands totalling 17,000 seats, as the stadium will be one of the host venues for this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
The stands at the north and south ends of the stadium will be opened up for the first time on Saturday to accommodate the throng of fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Messi.
If history is any indication, this weekend’s contest will end up feeling like a road game for Toronto, as soccer fans wearing Messi jerseys will descend on the stadium and let their voices be heard in support of the Argentinian superstar.
“It’s interesting in a lot of places, because you’ll see a lot of opponents’ jerseys, and it’s a little bit weird playing a game at home when you feel like sometimes they’re showing up for a different reason. But you’ve got to put that aside and hope that your home crowd still cares about your team, and they care about your result, and we’ve got to give them that motivation to root for us,” Zimmerman said.
“We’ve got to use that energy to our advantage and try and come out with a fast start, because the bigger the crowd, the bigger the moment; it becomes harder when you’re on the losing side during that match, you want to have the momentum. You want to be the team that’s playing in front, because it’s easier to handle that pressure.”
Elsewhere in MLS this weekend…
• It’s a battle of the top two teams in MLS on Saturday night when the Vancouver Whitecaps visit the San Jose Earthquakes. The Whitecaps sit second overall in the league table, three points behind San Jose with a game in hand, but they can overtake the Earthquakes with a win at PayPal Park. Vancouver (8-1-1) is unbeaten in five games (four wins) while its lone blemish on the season came in a 1-0 home loss to San Jose last month. The Earthquakes are riding a six-game unbeaten run (five wins).
• CF Montreal will look to get back on track when they host Orlando City on Saturday. Montreal (3-7-0) sits in second-last place in the Eastern Conference and is coming off a 3-1 road loss to Atlanta United in league play last weekend. Scoring continues to be an issue for Montreal as it has just 14 goals across its opening 10 games. German striker Prince Owusu has accounted for six of those goals, or 43 per cent of the team’s offensive production.
Editor’s note
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 27 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.