Messi's biggest test in MLS? Leading Inter Miami in Club World Cup
Messi's biggest test in MLS? Leading Inter Miami in Club World Cup
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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Inter Miami's set of former FC Barcelona standouts have been on the FIFA Club World Cup stage before.
Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets won it all with Barcelona in 2009. Their Inter Miami coach, Javier Mascherano, came off the bench to help them win it again in 2011. Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba joined them to win it all in 2015.
Ten years later, the former Barcelona standouts are back in the Club World Cup together again – playing for a Major League Soccer club that was an expansion franchise before COVID-19 altered 2020.
Inter Miami will face Egyptian Premier League champion Al Ahly in the 2025 Club World Cup opener at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The match is available to live stream for free on DAZN, and will be broadcast on TNT.
The road to win the Club World Cup may be Inter Miami's toughest test to date since the Barcelona stars reconvened in the U.S. This is the first time the Club World Cup features 32 of the best clubs in the world, compared to just seven clubs in its past.
Al Alhy is regarded as one of the best teams in Africa. They've won 26 continental titles and 45 Egyptian Premiere League titles, including 16 of the last 20. They've played in the Club World Cup nine times, and finished in third place in 2006, 2020, 2021 and 2023.
Inter Miami also will face FC Porto, who compete in the Champions League out of Portugal, Thursday in Atlanta, and Palmerias, one of Brazil's best, in Miami on Monday during the group stage.
But Messi, Busquets, Suarez, Alba and Mascherano still have their fire and desire to win and prove they still can compete at the highest level – despite all being 36 and older.
'Well, it's an interesting competition. Having the chance to be part of it is exciting,' Messi said in an interview with FIFA this week. "The expectations I have are different to the ones I had when I played for other teams, but I'm eager and I look forward to competing against the best, and doing well.'
Inter Miami's stars have all shined and experienced heartbreak on bigger stages than this.
Messi, turning 38 on June 24, crowned his career by leading Argentina to the World Cup title in Qatar in 2022, sandwiched between Copa America titles in 2021 and 2024. Mascherano, 41 and a first-year MLS coach, was there with Messi for much of the national-team heartbreak they experienced in both tournaments before those victories.
Busquets, 36, was part of Spain's World Cup winning side in 2010, while he and Alba, 36, were part of Spain's Euro championship in 2012. Suarez, 38, led Uruguay to the Copa America title in 2011, but not the same success in four World Cups.
They know anything can happen in this Club World Cup.
'In this kind of tournament – in the World Cup, the Copa América, in all tournaments – there's always a team that surprises you and has the ability to do so,' Suarez said before Friday's practice. 'We have players who can make a difference, so let's hope that the team that surprises is us.'
Inter Miami started this season unbeaten in their first 14 matches across all competitions (11 wins and three draws), but hit a major slump toward the end of April when they were bounced by the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-1 on aggregate score in the semifinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Since April 24, Inter Miami has played 10 matches – they've lost five of them and had two draws. They were outscored 23-15 in the first eight matches, before outscoring CF Montreal and Columbus Crew 9-3 in two wins before the Club World Cup.
Inter Miami, despite its aging stars, has flaws that could be exposed during this Club World Cup.
It also doesn't help they could be without Alba, one of their best playmakers who sustained a hamstring injury against Columbus May 31. Midfielder Yannick Bright (hamstring) and defender Gonzalo Luján (hamstring) also will not be available for the match.
Mascherano is hopeful they can return at some point in the next two matches.
"I think it's a great opportunity for us to measure ourselves, to see what level we're really at – beyond the fact that we already know what level we're at within the MLS, within Concacaf, having reached the final stages of the Concacaf Champions League,' Mascherano said during his pre-match press conference.
'Now, the level is higher, and we want to rise to the occasion.'
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