When Argentina beat France in 2022, Thiago Almada became the first active MLS player to lift the World Cup. Now, four years later, MLS has two players in the final — and one of them is Lionel Messi.
Argentina face Spain with Messi and Rodrigo De Paul both representing Inter Miami CF in the league. Spain's squad, stacked with talent from European clubs, has no active MLS presence. So the equation is simple: Argentina win, and MLS gets its second and third World Cup winners in back-to-back tournaments.
Record participation, but the final tells a different story
A record 45 MLS players were called up to the 2026 World Cup. That number sounds like a statement — until you get to the final and realize only two of them are still standing. That's not a failure. It's just an honest reflection of where the league sits globally. The best players in the world still overwhelmingly play in Europe, and Spain's squad is proof of that.
What's different now is the profile of those two MLS players. Messi, 39, has been central to Argentina's run throughout the tournament. De Paul — his closest midfield partner, both at club and international level — has been with him every step. A decade ago, a World Cup finalist fielding two players from an American league would have been unthinkable. Now it's happening, and one of those players is the most decorated footballer in history.
What Argentina winning means for the league's market
Argentina's World Cup odds making them favorites carries real weight beyond the trophy. An Argentina win cements Inter Miami — and by extension MLS — in a way no marketing campaign ever could. The league has leaned heavily into the Messi era commercially, and a second consecutive World Cup with an active MLS player lifting the trophy writes its own narrative.
Almada set the precedent in Qatar. If Messi and De Paul follow in 2026, that milestone becomes a trend rather than a footnote.
