More than six weeks after leaving the Copa America final due to a severely damaged right ankle, Lionel Messi resumed group training with Inter Miami on Wednesday.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi is yet to announce when he will return to action for Inter Miami, who currently leads Major League Soccer in goals scored this season. Inter Miami’s next MLS game is not until September 14 against Philadelphia; they visit Chicago on Saturday. Messi will have a further two weeks to complete his rehabilitation if he is unable to participate this weekend.

Argentina did not choose Messi to play in the early September World Cup qualifiers.

After the Wednesday practice, Inter Miami goalie Drake Callender remarked, “To see him on the pitch is great.” “I am aware that he has been receiving daily training and treatment. He’s handled situations before. He has experienced it all and continues to perform at the top of his game. It speaks volumes about the caliber of treatment we receive here that he was able to recover from the kind of injury we witnessed at Copa America and be available for us this season.”

In 12 MLS games this season with Inter Miami, Messi has 12 goals and 13 assists. He has missed fourteen of the team’s league games, including the previous eight, due to either his Argentina play or his ankle injury. Messi also missed all four of Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup matches during that time, as the team attempted to defend the cup it had won the previous year.

Messi’s last game was on July 14, when he was substituted out during Argentina’s Copa America final victory against Colombia. Throughout the tournament, he struggled with leg problems. He also had to leave the pitch in the first half of the final due to a left ankle trouble. However, he sustained another injury in the second half and had to exit the game permanently.

Messi will have had exactly two months to recuperate, rehab, and prepare for the MLS playoffs if he misses the game on September 14. With a game still to play, Inter Miami leads the LA Galaxy by four points for the best overall record in Major League Soccer. Thus far, just one team has secured a postseason spot.

It will be enormous to be able to have him back, Callender stated.