Count Argentina and Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi among those who thinks that Neymar should compete for his native Brazil in the upcoming World Cup.

Messi, who played with Neymar for four seasons at Barcelona and another two at Paris Saint-Germain before both moved on in 2023, admitted he does not consider himself objective about the 34-year-old player he calls a friend.

“We want the best players to be there (at the World Cup) and Neymar, no matter his form, will always be one of them,” Messi told Pollo Álvarez on his Lo del Pollo show.

Argentina and Brazil might be South American rivals, but this goes beyond rivalries for Messi.

“It would be wonderful to see him at the World Cup because of what he means to Brazil and to football. I hope he can be there, but I can’t be objective, because he always has to be there,” Messi told Alvarez.

“Obviously, I’d love for him to be at the World Cup, for good things to happen to him because he deserves it for the kind of person he is. And I hope he can be there.”

Currently under contract at his boyhood club Santos, the captain of the club in Brazil’s Serie A has been limited to eight matches in 2026 due to a knee injury that warranted minor knee surgery in late December and another knee procedure in March. He has three goals and two assists this season.

“He has a very special charisma,” Messi said. “He doesn’t put on an act, he lives his life as it is, according to what he feels without worrying about the repercussions. He lives his life, he’s happy, and he’s very natural.”

Neymar has rejoined Santos, where he began his professional career from 2009-13.

An ankle injury slowed Neymar before his departure from Paris Saint-Germain. At Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, a torn anterior cruciate ligament ended a brief stay.

A fixture on the Brazil national team starting in 2013, Neymar hasn’t played for his country since 2023 due to injuries and issues with form. He has played in the World Cup three times with his national team.

–Field Level Media

In a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals, the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces play host to the Phoenix Mercury in a matinee Saturday to open the season for both teams.

Las Vegas heads into the 2026 campaign fresh off its third WNBA championship in four seasons led by A’ja Wilson, who is coming off her fourth Most Valuable Player campaign.

Wilson surpassed Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and Lauren Jackson for the most MVPs in league history with last season’s selection. In 2026, Wilson can become the first player ever to win the award in three consecutive seasons.

In a league flush with new, young stars, Wilson enters her ninth campaign aiming to remain the WNBA’s standard-bearer, as she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“I like proving people wrong,” Wilson said. “I like to let people just burn because me and my team are doing great, or they never could have imagined it could have been me in this situation or my team in this situation.”

Wilson averaged 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and matched her career-best with 3.1 assists in 2025. She claimed WNBA Finals MVP at the culmination of a postseason run when she averaged 26.8 points — her most in seven career postseason appearances — 10 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.5 blocks and 2.1 steals.

Wilson closed out the Aces’ four-game Finals sweep of Phoenix with consecutive games of 34 and 31 points, ending the surprise playoff run of the Mercury, who will lean into its veteran roster this season.

Phoenix reached the Finals as the No. 4 seed in the playoffs, taking down the No.1-seed Minnesota Lynx in a 3-1 semifinal series. Kahleah Copper, a 10-year veteran, averaged 17.8 points through the playoffs.

DeWanna Bonner, who is entering her 18th year in the league, posted a pair of double-doubles in the Finals, and 12-year veteran Alyssa Thomas delivered three double-doubles in the Finals and a triple-double in the title-clinching game.

While the returning trio helped guide Phoenix’s run to the Finals, Thomas said at the Mercury’s media day on Wednesday that the playoffs provided the team’s younger players with invaluable lessons.

“We had a lot of people on our team who were … first time going through playoffs,” Thomas said. “I don’t think you can prepare people enough for how hard playoffs is.”

Among its young contributors, Phoenix welcomes back Monique Akoa Makani, a season-long starter as a rookie last year.

Makani is part of a Mercury backcourt tasked Saturday with slowing Las Vegas’ perimeter group of Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Jewell Loyd and offseason addition Chennedy Carter.

–Field Level Media

The top two teams in the MLS bid to continue their historic starts when the Vancouver Whitecaps visit the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night.

The Earthquakes and Whitecaps are the only teams in MLS history to win eight of their first nine matches, and Vancouver’s plus-20 goal differential (26-6) is the largest in league history through 10 games. The Quakes are plus-19 (26-7) through 11 matches.

San Jose (9-1-1, 28 points) is in first place in the Western Conference thanks to a 1-0 road victory over the Whitecaps (8-1-1, 25 points) on March 21. Beau Leroux scored the lone goal in the second minute of first-half stoppage time.

“It’s two teams having unbelievable first parts of the season,” Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen said. “Combined with two losses for the two teams in (21) games and one of them is because we played each other.

“It should be an exciting game for the league. We’ll try to make it as exciting as possible.”

Earthquakes coach Bruce Arena isn’t sure the result of the first match matters when the teams convene on Saturday.

“I’m not sure it applies to this match a whole lot,” Arena said. “We played real well against a good team. We scored a great goal and we hung on for a one-goal victory. What I take away from that is if we have a better feel for their team that we did going into that game but that doesn’t mean we’re going to be better off this time around.”

San Jose had won six straight MLS matches before playing to a 1-1 tie against host Toronto FC last Saturday. Leading goal scorer Preston Judd scored the tying goal in the 13th minute, his seventh of the season.

Judd saw how Vancouver advanced to the MLS Cup final last season before losing to Inter Miami and believes the Earthquakes can make a similar push.

“Yeah, I think at this point in the season, it’s a big game for us,” Judd said. “We’ve shown that we’ve exceeded the expectations others set for us, and this is another opportunity to make a statement and show that we’re a real contender. We’re going to challenge for the Cup this year.”

Vancouver had a four-match MLS winning streak snapped last Saturday when it tied the host Los Angeles Galaxy 1-1. Mathias Laborda scored the equalizer in the 81st minute.

Now comes the rematch against the Earthquakes, with the Whitecaps highly motivated to return serve.

“It’s going to be tough but it’s supposed to be tough,” Sorensen said. “That’s how it is. We’re ready to go there and play the way we always try to play.”

Brian White leads the Whitecaps with eight goals.

–Field Level Media