Inter Miami: Lionel Messi makes move to MLS

What do you know about Messi's new team?

Lionel Messi has just announced he is joining Inter Miami.

The World Cup winning footballer left Paris St-Germain earlier this month when his two-year contract ran out.

Inter Miami is a relatively new team to join the soccer stage, but how much do you know about it?

The club has a famous former England player as its owner, and there's plenty more to learn about it, so read on to find out.

Location: Miami

The team is based in Miami, in the state of Florida in the USA. It's by the coast, and gets some pretty hot weather in the summer.

Messi has a head start as he already owns a home in the city.

Miami is home to the largest cruise ship port in the world - and it's the second most populated city in Florida.

Inter Miami's stadium is pretty big too - and can hold up to 18,000 people.

Inter Miami's owner

The team has a pretty famous owner - David Beckham! The former England player set the team up in 2018.

Beckham used to play for Manchester United, and is remembered as one of their best players, winning the Premier League six times, the FA Cup twice and also the Champions League in 1999.

He joined the England team in 1996 and was England captain for six years.

It's a pretty new team

Inter Miami's team colours are light pink

The beginning of Inter Miami traces back to around 2014 when David Beckham and a few other investors started to set up the club.

It officially started in 2018, and then the team played their first match in 2020, losing 1-0 to Los Angeles FC. They then had their first victory in August that year, beating Orlando City 3-2.

They play in the MLS

Los Angeles FC were champions of the MLS last year

Inter Miami are in the MLS - which stands for Major Soccer League. This is the USA league for football - which over there is called soccer.

The MLS is split in two halves, Western and Eastern, for both sides of the USA.

They recently got a new coach

Former Lioness manager Phil Neville has recently left Inter Miami

The team's previous coach, Phil Neville, used to manage the England Women's team, but left in 2021 to manage Inter Miami.

Earlier this month he was sacked from his position after the team had 10 defeats in 13 league games.

Owner David Beckham said it was a "touch decision", but that the team needed a change.

The team's coach is currently Javier Morales, who was the assistant coach when Phil Neville was in charge.