Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will play their first MLS regular-season match in the new stadium on April 4.

MIAMI (AP) — Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will play a Major League Soccer match in their new stadium for the first time on April 4, one of the highlights of the league’s schedule that was revealed Thursday.

The 2026 MLS regular season starts Feb. 21 and runs through Nov. 7. It’ll be the last season in the February-to-November model, with a shortened season planned for 2027 and then the new summer-to-spring calendar for the 2027-28 campaign to closer align with other global leagues.

Inter Miami will open the season with five consecutive road matches, which presumably will allow for the finishing touches to be made to Miami Freedom Park — the team’s still-under-construction home near Miami International Airport. It’s not clear yet if there will be preseason or other matches at the stadium before the April 4 date.

The home opener for Inter Miami will be against Austin FC, a 7:30 p.m. start inside the new 25,000-seat stadium. Messi signed a three-year extension in recent weeks to remain with the team into 2028 and getting that deal done cemented that he — as the team long hoped — would be there for the start of their run at the new facility.

Miami Freedom Park’s opening will start a planned run of three new MLS stadiums in a three-season span, with New York City FC’s Etihad Park set to open in 2027 and a new downtown stadium for Chicago Fire FC slated to open in 2028.

World Cup break

There will be a nearly two-month break for the FIFA World Cup, with no matches scheduled between May 25 and July 16.

Among the final pre-break matches: a doubleheader on FOX on May 24 with Inter Miami facing Philadelphia followed by LAFC against Seattle.

The MLS season will resume just before the conclusion of the World Cup, with key rivalry matches scheduled for July 16 and 17. These games take place ahead of the third-place match on July 18 and the World Cup final on July 19.