Story · Lionel Messi
What next for 10 of the World Cup's biggest stars? This is how to follow them on The Athletic
Following the conclusion of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where Spain emerged victorious, The Athletic provides a guide for fans to follow 10 of the tournament's biggest stars as they return to club football. The article profiles Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), and Erling Haaland (Manchester City), detailing their World Cup performances and what to expect next season. Messi, aged 39, will return to MLS with Inter Miami after leading Argentina to the final. Mbappe, who scored 10 goals for France, will continue at Real Madrid. Haaland's Norway had their best World Cup. The piece directs readers to dedicated team and player pages on The Athletic for continued coverage.
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