Lionel Messi and league-leading Inter Miami will face defending champion Columbus Crew in the biggest game of the Major League Soccer season tonight.

What’s at stake? Messi and Inter Miami have a chance to win the MLS Supporters’ Shield with a victory. It would be Inter Miami’s second title of the Messi era after winning Leagues Cup in 2023.

The Supporters’ Shield, given to the MLS regular-season leader, would also be the 46^th title in Messi’s storied career. The Crew, however, could delay who wins the regular-season title if they’re able to pull off a draw against Inter Miami.

“My players, yeah, they know that Miami is coming with Messi, and we know that this is a good game for both teams,” Crew coach Wilfred Nancy told reporters Tuesday. “This is good for the league, obviously. This is good for everyone.”

It will be Messi’s first game against the Crew, although both teams played each other twice already this season. And it will be Messi’s fifth game since returning from his Copa America right ankle injury.

Messi has scored three goals in four games, but Inter Miami has secured three straight draws during the span as the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner improves his conditioning. It left some media wondering if Inter Miami has played better without Messi when it won 9 of 10 matches before his return.

“I am happy to have the best player in the world with us. And well, adapting to that won’t be a problem,” Inter Miami assistant Javier Morales said.

The Inter Miami match against Columbus Crew will be broadcast by FS1 in the United States.

The match will also be available for live stream via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

The match will begin at 7:45 p.m. ET (8:45 p.m. Argentina time)

Yes, Lionel Messi is expected to start and play for Inter Miami against Columbus Crew tonight.

Inter Miami 4, Columbus Crew 3: Messi may have heard the talk about Inter Miami playing better without him before his injury return, and makes a statement to deliver the club the MLS Supporters’ Shield title. Messi scores two goals with an assist to Luis Suarez, and Matias Rojas will score for Miami against the Crew. Columbus might have tired legs in its seventh match in 24 days, while Miami will play its fifth in the same span. — Safid Deen, Lionel Messi reporter for USA TODAY.

Inter Miami won at home 2-1 in June was Messi was away during Copa America, and the Crew won 3-2 in August with Messi injured en route to winning Leagues Cup 2024.

The way how Columbus won was emphatic: Christian Ramirez scored in the 67^th minute, while Diego Rossi scored a brace in the 69^th and 80^th minutes to steal the victory.

Inter Miami sits atop the MLS regular season standings with 65 points with three games remaining. A win tonight would give Inter Miami 68 points, and no other club would be able to reach that mark, giving them the Supporters’ Shield. If Inter Miami wins out, it would set a new MLS record with 74 points. A loss to Columbus would force Inter Miami to win its final two games to win the Shield.

Columbus Crew is in third with 57 points, but has four games remaining. A loss against Inter Miami would tap the Crew to 66 points if they win their final three games. A win against Inter Miami, however, opens a path to a maximum of 69 points.

LA Galaxy is second with 58 points with three games remaining. Three more wins would give the Galaxy 67 points.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY operates independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s a debut that has been months in the making but has twice been delayed.

But on Wednesday night at Lower.com Field in Columbus, the player considered by many to be the greatest of his generation gets his first crack at a burgeoning juggernaut.

On paper, it’s just a Wednesday night regular season match in Major League Soccer between Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and the Columbus Crew. But in some ways, it means much, much more.

It’s a matchup featuring arguably the best soccer player of the 2000s against a team with a resume as good as any in North America lately. The Crew have won four major trophies in the 2020s, including two MLS Cups, the 2021 Campeones Cup and the 2024 Leagues Cup.

Wednesday’s match, however, won’t be Messi’s first in the state of Ohio. His Inter Miami team played at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati last season in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal match vs. FC Cincinnati. Inter Miami won in penalties, 3-3 (5-4).

This will be Messi’s first Ohio match in MLS play, and the stakes could not be higher for both squads.

The Crew sit in second place in the Eastern Conference, eight points behind Inter Miami, but with a match in hand. They have three matches left this season after Wednesday, while Inter Miami has just two.

So any hopes of the Crew staying alive in the race for the Supporters’ Shield, given to the best regular season team in MLS, along with home field throughout the playoffs, start with defeating Messi and Miami Wednesday night.

However, an Inter Miami win clinches the Supporters’ Shield.

The two clubs have played twice this season: once in the regular season in Miami and once in the Leagues Cup in Columbus. The home team won both matches, but Messi did not play either match due to an ankle injury he suffered in Copa America 2024 playing for Argentina.

His injury also kept him out of the 2024 MLS All-Star Game in July, which was also played in Columbus.

Even at 36, Messi has still been very good in MLS with 15 goals and 11 assists in 16 matches. He scored his 15th of the season on Saturday in a 1-1 draw at home vs. Charlotte FC.

Inter Miami is 9-1-6 in the 16 MLS matches Messi has played this season and 10-4-2 when he’s out of the lineup. Part of why Inter Miami has been successful despite Messi being in and out of the lineup is that he brought several of his old teammates from Barcelona with him in Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

But what awaits Messi and company on Wednesday night is the reigning MLS Cup champions and one of the best home-field advantages in North American soccer.

How to watch for free on FS1 at 7:30 p.m. Eastern: Fubo (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial). Also, Sling has promotional offers) and MLS Season Pass.

The Crew have lost just two home matches since May, both in controversial fashion.

They suffered a 4-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders on Sept. 7, but it was a game where their top two goalkeepers were on international duty and their third-string keeper was sent off in the 38th minute. It forced midfielder and Olmsted Falls native Sean Zawadzki into goal with his team down a man for the final 52 minutes of regulation. The team was not allowed to bring in a fourth goalkeeper, leaving manager Wilfried Nancy to rip the decision after the match to not allow the Crew to add an emergency goalkeeper.

On Sept. 25, the Crew lost the Campeones Cup to Mexico side Club America, 1-1 (5-4 on penalties). But that match had its own controversial moment. The Crew’s Malte Amundsen missed off the crossbar in the sixth round of the penalty shootout. However, Club America goalkeeper Luis Malagon was off his line prior to Amundsen’s kick.

VAR was not used, and Club America won the match on the next penalty, denying the Crew a fifth trophy in the 2020s.

Lately, Columbus has been a fortress where few teams have success. Inter Miami felt that earlier this season in the Leagues Cup Round of 16 on Aug. 13 when it blew a 2-0 lead in the final 23 minutes. The Crew won, 3-2, on its way to winning the Leagues Cup.

Columbus also has its own firepower to counter what Messi brings.

Cucho Hernandez is among the league’s most dynamic offensive threats, with 16 goals and 13 assists in 24 matches, earning him serious consideration to be league MVP.

They also boast the league’s best defense, allowing just 31 goals in 30 matches. Only three other clubs have allowed fewer than 40 goals.

It’s very possible Wednesday night is a preview of the Eastern Conference Final. Inter Miami and Columbus are the two best teams in points per match and they’ve already played two thrilling matches.

But with Messi being available Wednesday night, the dynamic changes entirely.

It’s the face of Major League Soccer vs. the most successful team of the 2020s.

While the nature of soccer never guarantees that there will be a winner, this is the kind of matchup that MLS hoped it could have when Messi came to Miami.

Something will have to give between the world-famous superstar and the dynamic team, even if the two sides split the points.

If nothing else, it’s a chance for the two sides to send a message for what December and the MLS playoffs may bring.

Match facts

Who: Inter Miami (19-4-8, 65 points) at Columbus Crew (16-5-9, 57 points).

When: Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024.

Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

Where: Lower.com Field, Columbus.

TV: FS1.

Best live streaming options: Fubo (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial), Sling (promotional offers) and MLS Season Pass.

No. 8 Miami survived quite the scare on Friday night in a game against Virginia Tech that came down to the very final play in regulation.

And at least one national analyst in questioning the system when it comes to officiating.

Virginia Tech nearly snatched a win in the final moments when it threw a Hail Mary into the end zone. Initially, a whole slew of people came down right where the ball was. There was no call at first.

“I mean do any of us really trust that Virginia Tech didn’t catch that Hail Mary in the back of the end zone?” FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt said on The Joel Klatt Show.

“Folks: One, I don’t know how you just signal touchdown that late. People are celebrating. Is it a touchdown? And all the sudden his arms just kind of go up, like no one’s going to see him. Touchdown? Almost like it was a question. I’m Ron Burgundy? So now it’s a touchdown and it’s like, ‘Well, we’ve got to review it.’ Then they overturn the Ron Burgundy touchdown. And then it’s like overruled. It’s like hold on, hold on. How did both of those calls get made? I think both of them are probably wrong. It’s probably not a catch, but you can’t overturn it if that’s the way it’s called. I think it was all wrong, and it calls into question, by the way, what I’ve been banging on for a long time, why do we have conference officials and not national officials?”

The call favored Miami, which hung on to win after an improbable back-and-forth in the waning moments. The Hurricanes’ perfect season and their College Football Playoff chances remained intact.

Of course, Klatt pointed to the fact that it was ACC referees making the call as a point of interest.

“Because it at least can bring up the element of a conflict of interest,” he explained. “And I’m not suggesting that there’s a conflict of interest here, but in a day and age in which conferences are highly competitive with each other for spots in the playoff, for revenue, for all of it, all of it. They’re just highly competitive with each other.

“And now all the sudden you get your officials and your replay center involved in a call with the team that is your highest-ranked team. That is a conflict of interest. This is why we should change the way that we have officials slated and governed in college football. It should be a national officiating body in college football.”

Miami survived and won, but it’s hard not to see the logic in Klatt’s argument about the officiating. It’s a system that certainly invites some unwelcome questions.