PSG Eliminates Lionel Messi and Inter Miami From the FIFA Club World Cup
Lionel Messi-led Miami, the only one of Major League Soccer's three participating clubs to advance to the 32-team tournament's round of 16, were humbled by European champions Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 on Sunday in Atlanta.
PSG, the club Messi played for from 2021 until arriving in South Florida two summers ago, won its first UEFA Champions League title last month, beating Inter Milan 5-0 in the continental final.
Sunday's match went much the same way. The French titans ran out to a lopsided first-half lead and never looked back. Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves opened the scoring just five minutes into the match on an unmarked header from point-blank range.
Miami tightened up defensively after that — until a fatal six-minute stretch at the end of the first half. Neves doubled the Parisians' advantage in the 39th-minute, and PSG added two more goals before the halftime whistle sounded. The first was an own goal by substitute Herons defender Tomas Aviles, who came on for an injured Noah Allen. Star PSG fullback Achraf Hakimi then made it 4-0 in first half stoppage time, effectively ending the contest there and then.
PSG is coached by Spaniard Luis Enrique, who managed Messi plus Miami teammates Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suarez plus Herons' boss Javier Mascherano with Barcelona in the mid-2010s. The Champions League winners will take on either Brazilian giants Flamengo or European rivals Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals next Saturday. That game will also be staged at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Georgia's capital. Miami returns to MLS regular season action next Saturday, when they face CF Montreal north of the border.
MLS clubs LAFC and the Seattle Sounders were eliminated from the Club World Cup in the group stage. Neither won a game. Miami, meantime, went undefeated in the first round, beating two-time European champ Porto and tying Brazil's Palmeiras and Egypt's Al Ahly.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ ByDougMcIntyre .
recommended
Get more from FIFA Club World Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
3 hours ago
- Fox News
Christian Pulisic Scores as AC Milan Beats Bari 2-0 in Italian Cup Opener
An apparent injury to Rafael Leão made it a bittersweet season debut for AC Milan as the Portugal winger and United States international Christian Pulisic both scored in a 2-0 win over Serie B side Bari in the opening round of the Italian Cup on Sunday. Leão appeared to injure his right calf after celebrating his headed goal early on and had to be substituted. Pulisic, meanwhile, followed up a shot off the crossbar in the first half by finishing off an exchange with Santiago Gimenez — who came on for Leão — shortly after the break at San Siro. Newly signed Luka Modrić came on in the 66th for his Milan debut at age 39. The former Ballon d'Or winner joined the seven-time European champion in July after 13 seasons with Real Madrid. Massimiliano Allegri, who was rehired as Milan's coach after winning Serie A with the Rossoneri nearly 15 years ago, was suspended. He began serving a two-match ban for an ugly outburst directed at the referees during the Italian Cup final as Juventus' manager in 2024. The outburst resulted in Juventus firing Allegri. Milan is usually one of the top eight seeds that has byes for the opening rounds of the Italian Cup and begins competing in December. But the Rossoneri finished eighth in the Italian league last season and lost the Cup final to Bologna. Bologna was therefore given the top seed even though it finished ninth in Serie A, pushing Milan down into the earlier rounds. Milan will next face Lecce in late September. Also advancing were: Empoli, Sassuolo, Genoa, Venezia, Como, Cagliari, Pisa, Palermo, Frosinone and Parma. Serie A starts next weekend with Milan opening against promoted Cremonese on Saturday, again at San Siro. It remains to be seen whether Leão will be available for the league opener. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
Fox News
3 hours ago
- Fox News
Lionel Messi Returns From Injury, Scores Inter Miami's Game-Winner vs. MLS Champs
After missing Inter Miami's last two games with a leg muscle injury, Lionel Messi returned to MLS action on Saturday night, coming off the Herons' substitutes' bench at halftime and scoring the match-winning goal with six minutes to play and adding an assist in an eventual 3-1 victory over the LA Galaxy. With his team leading the defending MLS Cup champions 1-0 at the interval on a Jordi Alba strike, Miami coach Javier Mascherano inserted Messi for Venezuelan winger Telasco Segovia. It took the Argentine World Cup winner time to settle into the contest. Joseph Paintsil then equalized for the visitors just before the hour mark. But sure enough, the GOAT gave his legion of pink-clad worshipers pink-clad at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale the special moment they hoped to see when news broke about an hour before kickoff that Messi was listed as an available sub. Messi delivered it in brilliant individual fashion. On the right side of the field near the Galaxy' penalty box, Luis Suarez sent a backwards pass to Rodrigo De Paul, who squared the ball to Messi standing about 40 yards from the visitors' goal. The 38-year-old suddenly exploded past a defender then slalomed around several more before blasting an unstoppable left-footed shot into the bottom corner of keeper Novak Micovic's net. It was Messi's MLS-leading 19th goal of the regular season, putting him one ahead of Nashville SC striker Sam Surridge. (Nashville visits NYCFC on Sunday.) Suarez added an insurance tally for the hosts in second-half stoppage time off a seeing-eye feed from his former Barcelona running mate: Saturday's result pulled Miami, which claimed the Supporters Shield in 2024, within five points of Eastern Conference pacesetter Philadelphia Union, who lost to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. However, Messi & friends have played three fewer games. Messi was injured early in an Aug. 2 Leagues Cup contest against Mexican club Necaxa. He missed the Herons' final group game win over Pumas and a 4-1 Aug. 10 loss to Florida rival Orlando City. Miami faces Liga MX power Tigres on Wednesday in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals (coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app). Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Leão and Pulisic score as AC Milan beats Bari 2-0 in opener but Leão exits with apparent injury
MILAN (AP) — An apparent injury to Rafael Leão made it a bittersweet season debut for AC Milan as the Portugal winger and United States international Christian Pulisic both scored in a 2-0 win over Serie B side Bari in the opening round of the Italian Cup on Sunday. Leão appeared to injure his right calf after celebrating his headed goal early on and had to be substituted. Pulisic, meanwhile, followed up a shot off the crossbar in the first half by finishing off an exchange with Santiago Gimenez — who came on for Leão — shortly after the break at the San Siro. Newly signed Luka Modric came on in the 66th for his Milan debut at age 39. The former Ballon d'Or winner joined the seven-time European champion in July after 13 seasons with Real Madrid. Massimiliano Allegri, who was rehired as Milan's coach after winning Serie A with the Rossoneri nearly 15 years ago, was suspended. He began serving a two-match ban for an ugly outburst directed at the referees during the Italian Cup final as Juventus' manager in 2024. The outburst resulted in Juventus firing Allegri. Milan is usually one of the top eight seeds that has byes for the opening rounds of the Italian Cup and begins competing in December. But the Rossoneri finished eighth in the Italian league last season and lost the Cup final to Bologna. Bologna therefore was given the top seed even though it finished ninth in Serie A, pushing Milan down into the earlier rounds. Serie A starts next weekend with Milan opening against promoted Cremonese on Saturday, again at the San Siro. It remains to be seen whether Leão will be available for the league opener. ___
