Beckham thanked those present for the city’s “special welcome” and took part in a coaching clinic for 80 local children, organised in conjunction with Laureus Sport for Good, despite not being dressed for the occasion.

The 48-year-old was stopped for a selfie by one of several pitch invaders who brought the event to an early conclusion, with Miami players staying around for just 40 minutes, rather than the advertised 90.

With Messi’s hamstring issues in the mind, the Ballon d’Or winner emerged some 15 minutes after his teammates and spent as much time on his back stretching as he did kicking a ball.

“I thought you would get to see more than we did,” said Andrew Bourke, a fan at the event with his wife and young son. “The stadium probably did everything they could in terms of security, it is very hard to stop pitch invaders.

“I was lucky that we had free tickets through my son’s school, and the event was worth checking out, but I would have been disappointed if I had paid to come.”

Not everyone was disappointed, Tony Tam said he understood why Messi had not done as much as people might have liked.

“I thought it was long enough, but more entertaining things could have been included in that time,” he said.

“I liked the coaching clinic, it gave children a chance to connect with top footballers, and could be very good for the future of Hong Kong football.”

Fans began arriving well before the gates opened at 2.30pm, and organisers said tickets had sold out soon after going on sale in December.

Among those getting to the ground early was Jerry Ng, 30, who said he wanted to try to get his hero’s autograph when the team bus arrived.

“I’ve brought two jerseys with me today,” Ng said. “Initially I wanted to bring four, but thought that might be a bit ambitious.”

While the Inter Miami team boasts a host of stars, it was the 36-year-old Messi most came to see.

Supporters inching out of Causeway Bay MTR Station not long after 1.30pm were almost exclusively kitted out in either Argentina No 10 jerseys, with Messi’s name plastered across the back, or the salmon pink Inter Miami equivalent.

John and Grace Yao-hua travelled from Tainan City, in southern Taiwan, for Saturday’s practice, although they missed out on tickets for the game.

“There are not many chances to see Messi where we are from, and we wanted so much to see him in person, it is a relatively close location, and we had to come,” John Yao-hua said.

The couple paid HK$1,560 for their tickets, and estimated the two-night visit in total would cost them HK$12,000.

“For us, it is good value,” John Yao-hua said. “Messi is the reason everyone is here. He is captain of the world champions, and we look up to his career. With his age, it might be our last chance to see him.”

Fans from mainland China also made their way across the border for the weekend, and a blogger on Weibo with almost 3.5 million followers posted two photos taken from inside the Fullerton Ocean Park hotel where the team are staying, showing Inter Miami players drinking coffee or relaxing on yoga mats outside.

Earlier on Saturday, organisers Tatler repeated their pleas for those who had not bought tickets from the official Klook app not to try and get them from scalpers or third-party websites.

“We strongly urge fans to only purchase tickets from official channels,” it said in a statement. “If you purchase tickets through unauthorised unofficial channels, you must bear the risk of being refused entry and being expelled from the venue.”

Fans were also told to arrive early to “allow time for ticket checks, security checks and queuing”.