MIAMI (AP) — Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will play a Major League Soccer match in their new stadium for the first time on April 4, one of the highlights of the league's schedule that was revealed Thursday.

The 2026 MLS regular season starts Feb. 21 and runs through Nov. 7.

Inter Miami will open the season with five consecutive road matches, which presumably will allow for the finishing touches to be made to Miami Freedom Park — the team's still-under-construction home near Miami International Airport.

The home opener for Inter Miami will be against Austin FC, a 7:30 p.m. start inside the new 25,000-seat stadium. Messi signed a three-year extension in recent weeks to remain with the team into 2028 and getting that deal done cemented that he — as the team long hoped — would be there for

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