Fans say Lionel Messi's free-kick is rigged after own goal by FC Dallas player

Fans reckon there was something fishy about the way Inter Miami beat FC Dallas after Marco Farfan scored a bizarre own goal from Lionel Messi's free-kick.

Inter Miami were 4-2 down against FC Dallas in the League Cup when Messi stepped up to take a free-kick on the edge of the area.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner curled an out-swinging ball towards the back post where FC Dallas defender Farfan produced a bullet header into his own net before sinking to the floor, visibly baffled by his own decision.

With no Inter Miami player behind him, it is difficult to imagine why the 24-year-old didn't attempt to head it away from goal or simply let it go for a goal-kick. You can watch the footage below.

Messi had to pay bro off cuz no way 😭 pic.twitter.com/yRRQDpDZ4T

— ryan 🤿 (@scubaryan_) August 7, 2023

Fans were quick to question the nature of the goal, suggesting that the game was rigged.

"Messi had to pay bro off cuz no way", one fan wrote on Twitter.

"Bro forgot he don't play for Miami," another joked.

"That s*** looked intentional," a third exclaimed.

Another wrote: "Game fixed… common," before a fifth noted: "Looks so staged it's unreal."

"Bros out here getting assists to the other team," another tweet read.

Five minutes later, Messi had another free-kick, which he delightfully curled into the top corner to make it 4-4 and take the game to penalties.

Both Messi and Sergio Busquets converted their spot kicks as Inter Miami progressed to the round of 16 in the most dramatic of circumstances.

Speaking after the full-time whistle, Inter Miami manager Tata Martino couldn't help put laud the little magician.

"We have the best player in the world. That can't be ignored. When we have our moments, the team is lethal," he said, before being asked where the team would be without Messi.

"This question always gets asked in the places where he is. Someone can bet on what Barcelona would've looked like without Messi, what the Argentina national team would look like without Messi or anywhere he's been.

"Fortunately, we have him, and today he once again showed he's a tremendously important player. The majority of times there's a free kick in this area, and I think only with him do you get the feeling that it's going to be a goal.

"A free kick usually is something where you think it won't be a goal 90 percent of the time, but when he has it, it's the opposite. You think it won't be a goal 10 percent of the time, but the rest it will be."