In what could be the final showdown between two football legends, Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February, as announced by the event organizers on Tuesday.
“The Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF has been confirmed as the international team invited to participate in the Riyadh Season Cup alongside Saudi Pro League clubs Al Hilal and Al Nassr,” stated the organizers in a released statement, with the event scheduled for the first week of February.
Messi, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner who joined the US team in July and secured the Copa de la Liga title against MLS and Mexican clubs, will go head-to-head with Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or recipient, in a rekindling of one of the most impactful striker duels of recent decades.
The encounter between the two football giants comes after Messi became a world champion with Argentina after their victory in Qatar in 2022. The star-studded event will also feature other global football luminaries, including Messi’s former Barcelona teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.
Ronaldo, a five-time UEFA Champions League winner, is joined at Al Nassr by Sadio Mané, a former Liverpool player, and Marcelo Brozovic, the former captain of Inter Milan. Al-Hilal is the all-time top scorer for Brazil, as is Messi’s former teammate, Neymar, who is recovering from a knee injury.