 "Fact check: Did Lionel Messi's son Thiago score 11 goals in an U-13 match between Inter Miami and Atlanta United?")
Argentina and Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi’s son Thiago has been making headlines ever since he made his first appearance in a competitive match in November, leading many to believe that he will be following his father’s footsteps in the future.
Thiago made his junior debut while representing Inter Miami's U-13 team in Rosario , his father’s hometown in Argentina, coming in as a substitute for Luis Suarez’s son against Newell’s Old Boys, Lionel’s childhood club.
More recently, news of Thiago scoring nearly a dozen goals in a lop-sided victory for ‘The Herons’ in an U-13 match against Atlanta FC spread like wildfire on social media, leading many to believe that another ‘Messi’ was well on his way to becoming a superstar down the road.
The report claimed that Thiago alone accounted for 11 goals in Miami’s 12-0 drubbing of Atlanta in an U-13 MLS NEXT match.
Did Thiago Messi really score 11 goals against Atlanta United U-13?
The rise of social media has led to misinformation becoming easier to spread than ever before, with rumours spreading across the world in no time soon as they become a top trend.
And judging by a couple of clarifications posted on microblogging platform X, the news of Thiago scoring 11 goals against Atlanta FC might just be another case of netizens falling prey to fake news on social media.
Spanish football journalist and author Guillem Balagué, who has written biographies on Messi and his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo along with legendary manager Pep Guardiola among others, described the report that was carried by some of the most prominent news organisations across the world as fake.
“This is #FAKE, my friends. Not true that Thiago scored 11 goals in a game,” Balagué wrote on X.
This is #FAKE, my friends. Not true that Thiago scored 11 goals in a game
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) February 7, 2025
No es verdad que Thiago haya marcado 11 goles, amigos https://t.co/F2FuLrdMLA
Here are some of the other posts on social media calling the report out as fake.
El triste estado del periodismo deportivo. Acá el 🧵
— Carlos Reynoso ✍️ (@CarlosReynosoKC) February 6, 2025
La historia de que Thiago Messi le anotó 11 goles al Inter Miami NO ES REAL. Surgió de una cuenta PARODIA que replicó otra noticia fake, pero con Cristiano Jr.
MULTIPLES sitios, periodistas y creadores postearon. Una bomba. pic.twitter.com/QokFdQGemd
You fell to another screenshot fake brother 😂😂😂
— Harel Ashtar (@harel07ashtar) February 7, 2025
Anything he posts on Facebook, he posts on Instagram and X too and as you can see 0 posts 'bout "Thiago Messi". 🤡
Send me a link please😂 pic.twitter.com/VLUb8aHbfT
What ultimately confirms the news as fake is the fact that Inter Miami U-13s have not played Atlanta in the ongoing season. And as per the U13 MLS NEXT schedule published on the tournament’s official website, the two teams will be facing each other in the remainder of the season either.
It’s also worth noting that there was no such post on any of Inter Miami’s accounts, despite the fact that the report claimed Thiago scored 11 goals for them.
The club’s social media team surely would have put at least one post on X, Instagram and other platforms to celebrate such an incredible feat achieved by the son of their biggest superstar.
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