Messi scheduled to play Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place in 2024
Messi is coming.
Major League Soccer unveiled its 2024 schedule today, and Lionel Messi’s team, Inter Miami CF, is scheduled to play the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place.
Messi Mania will hit Vancouver on Saturday, May 25.
Because MLS has 29 teams and an unbalanced 34-match regular-season schedule, this wasn’t a guarantee. Just three Eastern Conference clubs visit Vancouver next season, and the Whitecaps are surely ecstatic that Miami is one of them.
The arrival of the Argentina star will surely result in all 54,500 seats at BC Place being filled for the first time ever for a Whitecaps MLS match. Whitecaps single-match tickets go on sale in the new year.
Cynics will worry that the greatest soccer player on the planet won’t want to play on BC Place’s artificial turf field. But Messi seemed more than willing to play on turf when asked about it last August.
“The truth is my youth was spent on artificial turf, my whole life was on that pitch,” the 36-year-old megastar said. “Truth is it’s been a while since I’ve played on artificial turf, but I have no problem adapting myself again.”
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Many big-name soccer stars have played at BC Place throughout the years, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney, Andrea Pirlo, and David Beckham. Beckham’s appearance is the only one that will rival the hype of Messi, as 48,172 fans saw him play the Whitecaps in a 2007 friendly in Vancouver.
“The 2024 season promises to bring tremendous excitement to our fans and our city. We have taken steps forward each year; last season we showed that we can compete with any team in our league, and we are working hard to ensure we will hit the ground running,” said Whitecaps CEO Axel Schuster.
“We ended 2023 with two of our top 10 attendances ever for MLS matches at BC Place. Next year, starting with our home opener and our 50th anniversary celebrations, we are looking forward to setting even more records in 2024.”
Other Whitecaps schedule highlights include their season opener at BC Place on March 2, against Charlotte FC. The Portland Timbers visit March 30, Toronto FC April 6, and Seattle Sounders on October 2. Vancouver’s new rival, LAFC, visits August 24. The final home match of the season is October 5, against Minnesota United FC.