Will Cristiano Ronaldo play against Lionel Messi? Here's the latest on his calf injury

Update: Lionel Messi is not starting, and on the bench with an injury for Thursday’s match. Follow along live here.

Soccer fans around the world finally got the news about Cristiano Ronaldo’s injury status for Thursday’s highly anticipated match with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.

With one day remaining until Al Nassr and Inter Miami meet in the Riyadh Season Cup in Saudi Arabia, Ronaldo’s availability was center stage for the match touted as “The Last Dance” against Messi. The game will air on Apple TV's MLS Season Pass.

Messi, 36, and Ronaldo, 38, are in the twilight of their illustrious soccer careers and continue to spark endless worldwide debate as to which star is the sport’s greatest athlete.

It’s been a week since Ronaldo’s calf injury caused his Saudi Arabian squad, Al Nassr, to cancel two preseason friendlies in China.

If this is their last match against each other, it would be a shame if Ronaldo missed it due to injury.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo play against Messi, Inter Miami?

Unfortunately, Ronaldo will not be available to play when Al Nassr plays Messi and Inter Miami on Thursday.

Ronaldo’s Al Nassr coach Luis Castro told reporters Wednesday:

Ronaldo “is in the final part of his recovery to join the group. We hope that in the next few days you can start working with the team. He will be absent from the game.”

Here’s what we know about Cristiano Ronaldo’s calf injury

Al Nassr posted two YouTube videos of their training sessions this week, with Ronaldo spotted in both.

Doing what? Just walking into the facility. That’s it.

Here's the first video with Ronaldo walking in at the seven-second mark.

And here's the second where Ronaldo's entrance begins the video.

After both videos hit their Ronaldo quota, they shift to Al Nassr players participating in various workouts on its practice field without Ronaldo in sight.

So, at the very least, Ronaldo has been at his team’s training facility, recovering as best he can while his Al Nassr teammates train in full for Thursday’s match against Messi and Inter Miami.

What does Ronaldo's Instagram say about his playing status?

Not much as we read the tea leaves on Ronaldo's last two posts.

Ronaldo posted a shirtless photo Tuesday with the caption: Thankful for the blessings. A mirror in the photo revealed no obvious dressing on Ronaldo's calf area.

Also, Ronaldo posted a photo of himself sitting inside a tour bus in China with the caption: See you soon.

What did Ronaldo say in China last week?

Ronaldo, during a news conference last Tuesday in China, expressed regret about Al Nassr’s cancelations of two matches last week.

“As you know, I played 22 years in football and I’m the player who doesn’t have too many injuries. So, I’m really sad, because Al Nassr and myself, we come here to China to enjoy the tour,” Ronaldo said. “So, as you can see, I feel sad. I know you are sad, too, especially the people who love Cristiano. But we have to see this in a good way.

"When I say in a good way, I mean, we [have] not canceled the game. We’re going to postpone the game. We want to be back here to your country. We will be back.”

Messi vs. Ronaldo, head-to-head history

Although Ronaldo and Messi won't meet again this year, they did meet last year.

Ronaldo scored twice on a team of Saudi All-Stars, while Messi scored once to help Paris Saint-Germain to a 5-4 win last January.

Messi leads the head-to-head battle against Ronaldo in goals (22-21) and record (16 wins, 9 draws, 11 losses) across La Liga, Champions League, Copa del Rey, Spanish Supercopa and International Friendlies.

But if you include last year’s exhibition, Messi and Ronaldo are tied with 23 goals each.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cristiano Ronaldo injury update: Will he play vs. Messi, Inter Miami?