MONTREAL — Pierre-Paul Foisy can’t count the number of times he’s visited Stade Saputo to cheer on CF Montreal.
The Lionel Messi superfan, however, has no problem shedding Montreal’s colours when his hero is in town.
Instead of sporting blue, black and white, Foisy wore a pink tracksuit and a goat mask — for “Greatest Of All Time” — as Messi’s Inter Miami took on CF Montreal on Saturday night.
“Messi is worldwide,” said Foisy, standing next to his son, Jeremy. “The level of player he is and what he can do with the ball, it’s incredible.
“I’m a CF Montreal fan deep down, for sure. But when you have someone of that magnitude, you can’t be disappointed about people switching sides.”
Widely regarded as one of the greatest soccer players of all time, Messi is an eight-time Ballon d'Or recipient as global player of the year and a World Cup winner with Argentina in 2022.
Hundreds of fans swarmed a downtown Montreal hotel to catch a glimpse of the global icon after he landed in Montreal on Friday night.
Many more, including Foisy, held signs and lined the streets in Miami pink and Argentina blue outside Stade Saputo hours before kickoff to watch Messi walk off the team bus.
A heightened police presence, extra security and numerous additional fences surrounded the stadium grounds to handle the circus.
Messi waved to a large group of fans yelling his name through a fence from a distance before entering the building.
“Oh my God, I can't believe it,” said fan Kamar Assaf, wearing an Inter Miami jersey. “It's my dream since I was a little kid.”
Assaf drove from Toronto with her partner, a Cristiano Ronaldo superfan, to see her idol live for the first time.
They waited until Miami dropped out of the Club World Cup in the round of 16 last Sunday with a 4-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain. Had Miami won, the MLS match would have been postponed.
There was also concern Messi wouldn’t travel because of a heavy schedule of games, but Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano dismissed the idea of leaving his superstar in Florida.
This marks Messi’s fourth match on Canadian soil, and second in Montreal.
The 38-year-old played his first professional game in Canada on May 11, 2024, when he was held off the scoresheet in a 3-2 Miami win over Montreal.
Foisy, who bought season tickets last season, went viral on social media that night for wearing his goat mask.
On the heels of Messi’s move from Europe to Miami in 2023, CF Montreal sold out its 15,000 season tickets last year for the first time since the club joined MLS in 2012. The club did not reveal how many it sold this season.
Many spectators on Saturday only attended for one thing.
"I came only to see the CF Montreal games for Messi,” said 15-year-old fan Julien Massri, with the Argentine flag painted on each cheek. “He's the one that made me like playing soccer, so he's a really special person for me.
“Everything about him — his dribbles, his shots, his flair, his skills … his intelligence on the pitch and his leadership is something special for me.”
Some dyed-in-the-wool CF Montreal fans, however, weren’t so pleased about the Messi fans invading Stade Saputo in large numbers.
Tony Martino, a leading member of the “1642 MTL” supporters’ group, said he understood why people cheered for Messi, who’s “probably the greatest soccer player of all time,” but added he wouldn't follow suit.
“It's not a surprise,” he said at the supporters’ group’s tailgate, held on the opposite side of the stadium from where people gathered to greet Messi. “That being said, we're in Montreal, we are not here for Messi.
“It is a little annoying in a way, kind of, to see people overtaking the stadium, but I'm here for one team.”
Martino said he planned to chant a little louder than usual in the supporters’ section, knowing CF Montreal fans could be outnumbered.
“We'll make sure that the flags will be flying,” he said. “If Messi is in our area and somebody behind me tells me, ‘Hey move your flag, I want to see Messi,’ you won't see Messi.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
