Messi stays silent on Inter Miami contract extension while attending 1v1 soccer finals

MIAMI (AP) — Lionel Messi went to watch some soccer on Friday. He didn't say a word about his own future.

The Inter Miami star — who is closing in on a contract extension that will keep him with his Major League Soccer club through at least the 2026 season and likely beyond — showed up to watch the global finals of the 1v1 soccer tournament that he helped create and is sponsored by a hydration drink that he co-founded.

His appearance came days after he and Inter Miami closed in on an extension, one that the sides have been working on for months and would assure him of being with the club when it plans to open its new stadium near Miami International Airport next year.

Messi watched both the men’s and women’s semifinals and then the finals of his event. He greeted the winners on stage and signed autographs for fans, even taking a large group selfie with the entire crowd at the end.

But there were no hints about the contract coming from his team on Friday and he did not address reporters.

Messi only spoke behind the scenes to his team about the tournament, with his interview being sent out to members of the media afterward.

“It is really so nice to see and to share this opportunity providing a platform for the game that is 1v1,” Messi said.

When asked about the extension, Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano said he remains hopeful.

“I hope it happens soon, because I think it’s great news not only for the club but for MLS in general, right?” Mascherano said earlier Friday at the team’s training base in Fort Lauderdale.

“I don’t think it’s just for the team,” Mascherano said. “Obviously, for the team, for the club, for the history of this club, it’s something unique. But I think for soccer in general in the United States, it would be very, very important news. They could have the best player who has ever played this sport here for a while longer.”

Messi captained Argentina to the World Cup title in 2022 and has been part of qualifying matches with the team — but has not formally said that he will play in the tournament when it comes to the U.S., Canada and Mexico next year.

The 38-year-old Messi has 20 goals — second most in the league — and 11 assists in MLS play this season.

He joined Inter Miami in July 2023 on a 2 1/2-year contract, one that was worth an estimated $150 million at the time. Messi was MLS’ MVP last season, even in a year where he missed 15 of Inter Miami’s 34 regular-season matches with injuries or national team commitments.

He has helped the team win its first two trophies, the Leagues Cup in 2023 and the Supporters’ Shield for having the best record in MLS last season.

Messi and Inter Miami will play D.C. United on Saturday. Miami opens the weekend sixth in the Eastern Conference, eight points behind first-place Philadelphia — but with three matches in hand on the conference leaders and still in the race for one of the top playoff seeds as well as the Supporters' Shield.

AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

A soccer fan holds a jersey of Argentina's Lionel Messi prior to a World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match against Ecuador at Banco Pichincha stadium in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi arrives for an MLS soccer match against the Seattle Sounders, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

SEMMERING, Austria (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin was fourth and more than half a second off the pace in the opening run of a women’s World Cup slalom Sunday, putting the American’s five-race winning streak in the discipline in danger.

Shiffrin posted the fastest second split time and was one-hundredth ahead of world champion Camille Rast halfway down the Panorama course but lost considerable time on the Swiss racer in the bottom section and finished 0.54 seconds behind.

Rast led Italian-born prodigy Lara Colturi, who competes for Albania and was 0.09 seconds back in second, and Austria's Katharina Liensberger, who trailed by 0.34.

“It’s a pretty tough one. I think, probably, a little bit like overskiing, too round, compared to what’s possible," Shiffrin told Austrian TV, adding she planned to analyze video footage of her own and Rast’s run before the final leg later Sunday.

"Imagine like Camille, she is so direct on the gates, if she manages that, what must be, then it's so quick, so fast, so down the hill,” the American said.

Shiffrin won the final race of last season and then dominated the first four slaloms of the current Olympic campaign, winning them by an average margin of 1.5 seconds.

Shiffrin, who was the 2014 Olympic champion and holds the women’s World Cup record of 68 slalom wins, has won the slalom in Semmering three times, most recently in 2022 after she had won back-to-back giant slaloms in two days in the resort near Austrian capital Vienna.

Shiffrin led second-placed Colturi by 180 points in the slalom standings coming into Sunday’s race. The World Cup schedule includes three more slaloms in January before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, and then two in March.

Zrinka Ljutic, who won the slalom globe last season, was 10th after the opening run and the Croatian racer had to make up 2.13 seconds in the final run.

Shiffrin's teammate Paula Moltzan was 1.41 off the lead, a day after she crashed and fell on her back and head in a giant slalom on the same hill. That race was won by Austria's Julia Scheib, who does not compete in slalom.

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Albania's Lara Colturi speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Switzerland's Camille Rast speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom in Semmering, Austria, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)