The “Cold Weather Advisory” warns anyone in Kansas City that “dangerously cold wind chills as low as 20 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.” And yet, on Wednesday night, with forecasted temperatures dipping below 4 degrees Fahrenheit, Sporting Kansas City and Inter Miami are scheduled to play a soccer game.
They were originally set to open their seasons Tuesday in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, but snow in Kansas City led to a one-day postponement. On Wednesday, however, it could be even colder. At 7 p.m., when the match is slated to kick off, the forecasted wind chill is -9 degrees; by 9 p.m., it could fall to -11.
It will be colder than any game in Major League Soccer’s 29-year history and perhaps one of the coldest soccer games ever recorded, anywhere.
And it has prompted a raft of questions, including: Will Lionel Messi, Miami’s peerless star, participate?
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Inter head coach Javier Mascherano assured reporters Monday that Messi is “100% available,” no matter the weather. “I can assure you that Leo will play,” Mascherano said.
But, with the game rescheduled from Tuesday to Wednesday, Inter Miami rearranged its plans and is now scheduled to travel to Kansas City on Wednesday morning, a source familiar with the plans told Yahoo Sports. Naturally, fans are skeptical that Messi will join his teammates. And some are questioning whether the game should happen at all.
Why Miami vs. Kansas City will go on despite the cold
CONCACAF, the North and Central American soccer governing body that runs the Champions Cup, made the original decision to reschedule the match from Tuesday to Wednesday “due to adverse weather conditions expected to impact the Kansas City metropolitan area in the next 24 hours, including significant snow accumulation,” it said in a Monday statement.
“The decision,” it added, was “made to prioritize player and fan safety, and in close coordination with the two participating clubs and the local authorities.”
On Wednesday, snow is less of a worry. It is expected to stop falling late Tuesday night. And the underground heating system at Children’s Mercy Park should make Sporting KC’s field playable.
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The worry, instead, is hypothermia, or frostbite, and other health issues — from illness to standard injuries — that might stem from the extreme cold.
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami may have no choice but to play through the frigid weather. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
FIFPRO, an umbrella group representing players’ unions across the soccer globe, “recommends that training and matches be canceled and rescheduled when the air temperature is less than -15 Celsius [5 degrees Fahrenheit] and when the Wind Chill Temperature is less than -27 Celsius [-16.6 degrees Fahrenheit].”
But there are no CONCACAF or FIFA rules that account for cold temperatures. In Kansas City, there is an expectation that the game will go ahead as (re)planned — in part because there is no room for further postponement on the schedule. This is the first leg of a two-leg knockout matchup. The second leg is set for next Tuesday. And for the winner, the first leg of the following round is the week after that. On weekends, beginning Saturday, there are MLS matches. (Miami’s league opener, originally set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m., has been pushed back to 7:30 p.m. to accommodate CONCACAF’s 24-hour postponement.)
The only viable workaround would have been for Inter Miami to agree to host the first leg and travel to Kansas City for the second leg next week — when KC temperatures will rise back to normal, all the way into the 50s. But now, it is too late to flip the legs. (When asked to confirm that the club was offered this option, and to explain why that switch didn’t happen, Inter Miami spokespeople did not respond to messages. CONCACAF also did not respond to emails seeking comment.)
When is it too cold for soccer?
There are no rules in part because there is very little precedent for soccer in such cold weather. Most leagues in countries with frigid winters, such as those in Scandinavia and Russia, break for January and February. MLS seasons end in early December and begin in late February, thereby avoiding the worst of the winter months.
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The coldest MLS game on record was a March 3, 2019, match in Colorado, which clocked in at 18 degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest game between MLS teams was the Feb. 20, 2018, clash between the Colorado Rapids and Toronto FC in the CONCACAF Champions League — which has traditionally started a week or two before the MLS regular season.
That Colorado-Toronto game was around 5 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff, and 3 degrees by conclusion, with the wind chill dipping well below -10 degrees.
It was then surpassed as the coldest high-level game on United States soil in February 2022, when the U.S. men’s national team played Honduras in a World Cup qualifier in Minnesota. The temperature that day was 2 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff, with a wind chill of -14. Honduras had to substitute multiple players due to the “extreme climate conditions.” Their coach was incredulous.
Most weather-related controversies, though, have centered on snow. Last year’s March 2 match between Real Salt Lake and LAFC, played on a snow-covered pitch in Utah, was branded an “absolute joke” by LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo.
Generally, however, clubs in cold-weather cities embrace adverse conditions. In Colorado, where it will also be around 4 degrees Fahrenheit for Tuesday’s Champions Cup game between the Rapids and LAFC, the Rapids appeared to subtweet Inter Miami’s concern about the conditions in Kansas City. (Inter’s nickname is the Herons.)
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Globally as well, games are occasionally postponed due to snow or heavy rain, but very rarely due to cold. In Siberia, a 2018 Russian Premier League game was played amid a wind chill of -13 degrees Fahrenheit. Russian soccer rules stated teams could refuse to play if temperatures dropped below -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit), but the temp that day at kickoff was -13.9 Celsius (6.98 Fahrenheit). There is no such rule in CONCACAF.
So the Kansas City-Miami match will likely go ahead. Messi’s participation, therefore, is a decision for him and Inter Miami. Playing could jeopardize his health in the short and medium term for the 2025 season ahead. Staying home could jeopardize Inter’s run in the Champions Cup, one of their priority competitions.
MIAMI (WSVN) – A 21-year-old man was arrested on a charge of sexual battery on a minor by an adult and lewd or lascivious molestation stemming from an alleged incident involving a 10-year-old girl, according to an arrest report.
According to the report, Alvin Davis was arrested due in connection from an alleged incident that occurred Oct. 16, 2025, in Miami. The child’s mother, who became suspicious and placed a recording device in the child’s bedroom.
The report states the girl told investigators that Davis touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions.
Authorities said Davis was transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and is being held without bond.
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Former Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is expected to be a late first-round draft pick on Thursday night, which will bring him a guaranteed four-year contract worth around $20 million. But he considered turning that down for a big-money offer to stay in college.
Simpson, who has previously said that Miami offered him $6.5 million to transfer and play for the Hurricanes in 2026, said on David Pollack’s podcast that the money was too good not to at least think about.
“I think the last offer was definitely one that I just had to sit down and consider, because it would have been life-changing money,” Simpson said. “It would have made me the highest-paid player in college, and it was something to where I was like, I can’t just ignore this. I have to sit down and think about it. That’s how I am, I don’t want to do anything sporadic. I want to sit down and think it all out, and it really just came down to how I wanted to be remembered and what do I want to do.”
Simpson, who spent three years as a backup at Alabama before becoming the starter last year, went to his former coach, Nick Saban, for advice.
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“I actually talked to Coach Saban about this,” Simpson said. “The things he was talking about were, do you want to play football in college, or do you want to play football professionally? And he was like, ‘Take the money out of it, take the rounds out of it, what do you want to do next year?’ And without a doubt, without hesitation, I said, ‘I want to play professional football.’ And he was like, ‘Well, there’s your answer.’ It was something that I’ve always dreamed of, and I felt that I was ready to take that next step and be the face of a franchise and lead a locker room.”
It’s a different world in football now that players might make more money with another year in college than their annual average salary will be in the NFL. Now, players have to think about whether the NCAA or the NFL will be more lucrative. NIL deals have changed both college football and pro football.
Photo Credit: @CanesFootball via X // redshirt senior wideout Cooper Barkate catches a 29-yard touchdown from Darian Mensah during Miami’s Spring Game on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at Cobb Stadium.
After more than three months removed from a devastating national championship loss, over 5,000 fans gathered at Cobb Stadium on Saturday morning for a first look at Miami football’s 2026 squad.
The annual spring game offered exactly that: a mix of evaluation and entertainment. Miami structured the day differently this year, using the first half for position drills, including passing, red zone and agility work, before transitioning into a live scrimmage in the second half.
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Much of the attention centered on new quarterback Darian Mensah, a transfer from Duke. While he started slow, Mensah quickly settled in and showed why he’s expected to lead the Hurricanes this fall.
Mensah connected multiple times with familiar target Cooper Barkate, his former teammate at Duke. The duo picked up right where they left off, highlighted by a 29-yard touchdown to the back corner of the end zone. Mensah added a 33-yard touchdown pass to Daylyn Upshaw and a five-yard score to Cam Vaughn, another transfer addition.
Calm in the pocket and effective under pressure, Mensah extended plays and delivered accurate throws, flashing the kind of playmaking ability Miami fans have been eager to see.
With several returning starters such as wide receiver Malachi Toney and running back Mark Fletcher seeing limited action, opportunities opened for younger players to contribute. RB Jordan Lyle capitalized, breaking off multiple strong runs and showing quick footwork in the open field.
Behind Mensah, Miami showcased its quarterback depth. Judd Anderson, Luke Nickel and early enrollee Dereon Coleman all saw snaps, with Nickel making a strong case for the backup role. Coleman flashed potential but remains a longer-term development piece.
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Photo Credit: @CanesFootball via IG // Miami quarterback Darian Mensah performs handshake with redshirt senior wideout Cooper Barkate during Miami’s Spring Game on April 18, 2026, at Cobb Stadium.
Defensively, Miami may have delivered the most impressive performance of the day.
Despite losing key contributors such as Ruben Bain and Akheem Mesidor to the NFL, the Hurricanes controlled the line of scrimmage and limited offensive production. Defensive lineman Damon Wilson, a transfer from Missouri, along with tackles Justin Scott and Jarquez Carter, consistently disrupted plays. Scott’s quickness stood out against the run, while Wilson applied steady pressure off the edge.
In the secondary, Boston College transfer Omar Thornton, along with JJ Dunnigan and Xavier Lucas, contributed to multiple stops with tight coverage and physical tackling.
The offensive line, featuring several new faces and only one returning starter, showed flashes but remains a work in progress. Freshman Jackson Cantwell has big shoes to fill with Sisi Mauigoa declaring for the NFL draft. At 6-foot-8, 330 pounds, Cantwell acted as a brick wall protecting his QB and winning the battle at the line. However, the second team offensive line had some struggles, with two bad snaps in a row.
For many in attendance, however, the spring game was about more than just performance. It served as a rare opportunity for families and fans to connect with the program in a more personal setting, celebrating players beyond what they show on the field.
“It’s him fulfilling his dream and doing what he wants to do,” said the grandmother of wide receiver Milan Parris. “He’s my oldest grandson, and I’m just over the moon. I’m extremely proud of him.”
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While the defense may have controlled much of the action, the day ultimately served as an early glimpse into a team balancing new talent, developing depth and high expectations.
With nearly five months until the season opener against Stanford on Sept. 4, Miami leaves the spring with promise and plenty to still refine.
