Lionel Messi mania has swept across North America, and Toronto wasn’t spared from the frenzy. For all the world, it looked like a head of state was holed up inside Hotel X, with police cruisers, motorcycles, and metal fences blocking off the area. Yet it wasn’t a politician or royal figure at the centre of this security detail, but Messi himself.
Fans in fluorescent pink chanted his name, and when the Inter Miami bus rolled out with a police escort, the crowd ran after it like a scene straight out of Beatlemania. This circus has followed Messi since he joined Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2023 after 17 years at Barcelona, and Toronto FC’s home ground, BMO Field, was no different. Messi only played the final 29 minutes of the match, but his presence alone captivated the 30,217 spectators in attendance.

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