Fans wait, hoping to get an autograph from Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi before the team’s MLS soccer match against the Chicago Fire in Chicago, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023.

CHICAGO (AP) — Lionel Messi wasn’t in Chicago with Inter Miami on Wednesday night for a game against the Fire, missing his fifth match in the last six with the MLS club.

The 36-year-old Argentine star had been listed as questionable on Inter Miami’s injury report because of a scar tissue ailment that has nagged him since shortly after the World Cup. He worked out independently of the team Tuesday.

The Fire sold a team-record 61,000 tickets to the match at Soldier Field. After Messi’s presence became unlikely, announced prospective season-ticket holders could take a $250 credit toward next season, with single-game spectators eligible for a $50 credit if they decided not to attend.

Messi has 11 goals in 12 matches with Inter Miami. It is 8-0-4 when he plays; seven of those matches were on the team’s run to winning its first trophy by claiming the Leagues Cup championship and another was in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal. Inter Miami is 1-2-2 in its five matches without Messi since he joined the club.