Prior to the start of the Club World Cup, Javier Mascherano confirms a serious injury to Inter Miami.

Jordi Alba will not play in Saturday’s Club World Cup opener against Al Ahly, according to Inter Miami manager Javier Mascherano.

Mascherano’s team will play the Egyptian Champions at Hard Rock Stadium to begin their campaign, giving the Herons the honor of playing in the opening match of the recently expanded Club World Cup.

After winning both of their previous MLS games at home, Inter Miami should be feeling confident going into the match.

At the beginning of the month, they defeated CF Montreal 4-2 before easily defeating Columbus Crew 5-1 to move up to third place in the Eastern Conference with 29 points from 16 games.

Although the seasoned Alba missed the team’s resounding victory over Columbus, there might have been optimism that he would be well enough to play against Al Ahly in the Club World Cup.

Mascherano has, however, stated that Yannick Bright and the left-back will not be present for the eagerly awaited match.

During his pre-game press conference, Mascherano informed reporters, “Jordi and Yannick are not available for this game but hopefully they will be for the second game.”

“Obviously, we would have loved to have our entire roster and everyone fit for this game; that would have made us stronger.”

The two will try to bounce back for Inter Miami’s second group game on June 19 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Portuguese powerhouse Porto.

After that, on June 23, Inter Miami will play Brazilian team Palmeiras at Hard Rock Stadium to wrap up the group stage.

Lionel Messi will be hoping to play a major part in Inter Miami’s Club World Cup campaign after returning from Argentina’s international duty.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has stated that he has lower expectations for Inter Miami’s participation in the tournament, despite having won the Club World Cup three times while playing for Barcelona.

“The tournament is lovely. “Being here and playing in it is exciting,” Messi told reporters. However, I approach it differently than I did when I played with other teams.

“Even so, I’m bursting with enthusiasm and optimism, eager to compete against the best and deliver a strong performance.”

This season, the Argentine has made 20 competitive appearances for Inter Miami, contributing nine goals in his last three games. He has also scored 15 goals and provided six assists.