Messi, Inter Miami gear up for grueling MLS run after their Club World Cup exit
And so, the Club World Cup carries on without its biggest star, Lionel Messi, after Inter Miami was eliminated by European champion Paris Saint-Germain in a lopsided 4-0 game on Sunday in Atlanta.
The tournament was fun while it lasted for Inter Miami, which exceeded expectations, got through the group stage undefeated, played in front of crowds of 60,000-plus, and came home $21 million richer for reaching the Round of 16.
Now, it’s back to the grind of the MLS season, and what a grind it will be. A grueling July schedule awaits with seven games over a span of 25 days. Four of the first five are on the road, starting with a road game against last-place CF Montreal on Saturday night.
Due to its tournament commitments, Miami has played four fewer matches than most of its Eastern Conference rivals, so the next stretch of the schedule is jam-packed as the team tries to catch up.
Following the Montreal game, Inter Miami plays at New England on July 9, at home against Nashville on July 12, on the road at Cincinnati July 16, on the road at New York Red Bulls on July 19, and then at home against Cincinnati on July 26.
Inter Miami’s home game vs. Atlanta, which was originally scheduled to be played this past Saturday, has been rescheduled to Oct. 11 at 7:30. The game was rescheduled after the club advanced to the Round of 16.
The team has ground to make up in the standings, as it slipped from third place to sixth during its Club World Cup break and now sits 11 points behind first-place Philadelphia Union, 10 behind second-place Cincinnati and nine behind third-place Nashville. The top seven qualify for the playoffs, which begin in late October. The eighth and ninth place teams enter a playoff for the final spot.
As if that weren’t enough to keep Messi and his teammates busy, the month-long Leagues Cup, which pits MLS vs. Mexico’s Liga MX, kicks off in late-July. Miami’s opening group stage match is July 29 against Atlas.
Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas said before Sunday’s game: “We continue dreaming big. Irrespective of the outcome [Sunday], we’re going continue dreaming so that when people think of futbol in the United States of America, they’ll think of Inter Miami.
“Our goal is to lift trophies, not only within Major League Soccer, but we want to win our federation championship, to win Champions Cup, to qualify for the next Club World Cup. We want to develop a championship culture.”
Inter Miami, in its sixth year in existence, has two pieces of hardware in its trophy cabinet: the 2023 Leagues Cup and the 2024 Supporters Shield.
Four trophies were in the team’s sights at the start of this season: Concacaf Champions Cup, Club World Cup, Leagues Cup and MLS Cup. Miami lost in the semifinals of the Champions Cup, and in the Round-of-16 in the Club World Cup.
The Leagues Cup is still up for grabs, as is the MLS Cup. Eighteen regular season games remain, and Inter Miami is determined to make a deep playoff run and compete for the MLS Cup after last year’s disappointing first-round exit.
Messi posted a message to his 505 million Instagram followers following Sunday’s loss to PSG: “Today the Club World Cup ends for us with a loss to the reigning Champions League champions, where there are people I appreciate, and it gave me joy to see them again. We leave proudly after reaching our goal of making the final 16 of the tournament. Now, we will focus on MLS and all that lies ahead.”
Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano hopes his team will build off its Club World Cup performance. He wants to see that same heightened passion and level of play they showed against Al Ahly, Porto, Palmeiras and PSG against their Leagues Cup and MLS opponents.
“When you play opponents of that caliber, it is different from what we are used to in MLS and Concacaf, and that is no disrespect to them, but the top teams from Europe and South America are a different level,” Mascherano said. “We have to admit that. But we should use this as a learning experience. If we can use all this experience of high competition the past two weeks, it should help us in our domestic league.”
Jordi Alba agreed that the team raised its level during the Club World Cup and must not let up.
“We exceeded expectations, but [Sunday] we found ourselves against the best team in the world; we have no regrets,” Alba said. “MLS has its rules, but we have to be proud of what we did. This will serve us well, will give us confidence to know that we can compete against anyone if we play at the level we did in this Club World Cup.
“The feeling playing these games was different, I’m not going to lie. I spent my entire career playing against those types of opponents, with that pressure to win. We have it here, too, in MLS, we did not come here on vacation, but knowing how difficult it is to play against those [Club World Cup] opponents was an extra motivation.”
Maxi Falcon added: “Considering how young this club is, we have to be proud of our performance. No team becomes a winner overnight. I think we showed with how we played against the three group opponents that we are capable to winning our league matches. We know the opponents always give their all against us. Now, we have to turn the page and move on.”
This story was originally published June 30, 2025 at 3:33 PM.