Free Republic

Lionel Messi has risked further fury after opting against attending the glamorous White House ceremony to collect his Presidential Medal of Freedom. The World Cup winner was awarded America's highest civilian honor on Saturday, and was invited to meet Joe Biden and collect the award in Washington DC. As photos began to surface of the ceremony, it became clear that Messi was one of the few recipients to skip the event, and wasn't pictured on stage with Biden. The likes of Bono, Magic Johnson, Hillary Clinton and Michael J. Fox all headed for the American capital, but there was no...

Tomorrow, Inter Miami will be traveling to Atlanta to play their MLS fixture against Atlanta United. As the anticipation surrounds tomorrow’s match, one of Herons’ big names is set to miss the match. Regrettably, fans won’t be able to catch Lionel Messi in action.

Lionel Messi announced in early June he'd be joining Inter Miami for the upcoming season, making it the first time he'll ever play for a US soccer team. As Insider previously reported, Messi turned down an offer from his old club FC Barcelona and a reported $300 million-per-year deal in Saudi Arabia. As soon as the announcement was made, tickets to see Inter Miami soared in price, reaching $624 for matches in September, making this a ten-fold increase compared to matches before his joining. But this is not the only thing that is soaring for the team. Fans of —...

Argentina’s 2022 World Cup celebration almost took a catastrophic turn when a low-hanging power line nearly knocked Lionel Messi and four of his teammates off a moving open-top bus in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. In video footage from the team’s World Cup victory parade, Messi, Leandro Paredes, Angel Di Maria, Rodrigo De Paul and Nicolas Otamendi can be seen sitting on the roof of a bus when De Paul noticed the cable and told his teammates to duck. All five players made it under the power line with seconds to spare as the bus carrying the team continued on the...

LUSAIL, Qatar (AP) — Lionel Messi finally won the biggest prize in soccer as Argentina beat France 4-2 in a penalty shootout Sunday to claim a third World Cup title despite Kylian Mbappé scoring the first hat trick in a final in 56 years. Gonzalo Montiel scored the clinching penalty kick as Argentina won after a 3-3 draw.