Messi, Inter Miami’s MLS Cup title ends one era, ushers in a more ambitious future
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
By PAUL TENORIO / THE ATHLETIC
It was nearly two hours after the final whistle sounded on Inter Miami’s first MLS Cup, but Lionel Messi still hadn’t taken off his pink cleats as he stood next to the open door of his black Cadillac Escalade giving an interview.
Messi, the legendary Argentine, wore a gray Inter Miami MLS Cup champions shirt darkened by whatever booze was sprayed in the home team’s locker room. As he finished speaking, he finally slipped the shoes off those magical feet that helped set up all three goals in Inter Miami’s 3-1 win against the Vancouver Whitecaps last Saturday.
Then he drove out of the stadium — away from the first chapter of his Inter Miami story.
Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is an unspectacular temporary venue that was constructed as a stopgap while Inter Miami searched for its permanent home in South Florida. It represents just how early in its existence this club is. Saturday was the end of the team’s sixth season. Messi’s arrival in 2023 took a brand-new organization still searching for a way to marry its ambition to reality and turned it into a global brand.
It felt fitting that the final season at the stadium — and the last game of this first chapter of Messi in Miami — ended with a trophy. It also felt appropriate that it was delivered by Messi’s brilliance.
The first goal opened with him slipping between two defenders with a couple of deft touches, then lifting a little pass to Tadeo Allende to put him into space en route to the goal. Messi then engineered the next two goals, including a brilliant assist where he took the ball off his chest and put the pass through to Allende again out of the air on the next touch.
“Three years ago, I decided to come to MLS, and today we are MLS champions,” Messi said. “This is the moment I had been waiting for, and that we, as a team, were waiting for. It’s very beautiful for all of us.”
But even with the confetti still glittering on the field, thoughts were pivoting to what comes next. As the team celebrated in front of its fans, Inter Miami’s owner, Jorge Mas, could not wipe the smile from his face.
“This is amazing, I have an overwhelming feeling of gratitude,” he said. “It’s the culmination of everything we’ve worked for. It’s been superhard to get here. But finally we’re showing the world what’s possible.”
Messi in Miami 1.0 will be remembered for its star power and an imperfect road to the club’s first championship.
The first thrilling month of Messi in MLS in 2023 culminated with a penalty-kick win over Nashville in the Leagues Cup final. Everything had gone nearly perfectly as Miami slalomed through its first competition with a star coming off a World Cup win. When he lifted the Leagues Cup trophy, it felt as though Miami would be unstoppable going forward.
But Messi missed much of the end of the regular season with an injury, and a Miami team that had been in last place in the league when he arrived could not dig fully out of the hole it was in and missed the playoffs. The next season, Miami was dispatched from the CONCACAF Champions Cup in the quarterfinals by Liga MX’s Monterrey and then, after setting the MLS points record and winning the Supporters’ Shield, was stunned by Atlanta United and sent packing in the first round of the playoffs.
Tata Martino resigned as coach because of personal reasons after that defeat, and Inter Miami suddenly felt unmoored. Going into 2025, even with the two trophies in two years, it felt like a crucial point for Miami to prove that Messi was about more than just commercial impact.
The biggest and most important trophies — CONCACAF Champions Cup and MLS Cup — had eluded the team. It needed one to validate the sporting side of the project.
After Vancouver knocked Miami out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in the spring, those questions got louder. But Inter’s new coach, Messi’s former Argentina and Barcelona teammate Javier Mascherano, insisted that even in loss, the team was learning.
“Greatness comes from big nights, from victories, comebacks and even from mistakes,” he said in May. “We’ll keep pushing because we believe this team can compete.”
In the summer, Miami was the only MLS team to advance out of the group stage of the Club World Cup. Though it fell to Paris Saint-Germain in the knockout stage, the performance overall seemed to buoy the team.
“We leave with pride to have achieved the goal of making it to the top 16 of the tournament,” Messi posted on his Instagram.
Coming out of the summer, the No. 10 looked to be on a mission to get a trophy — especially because it started to feel like the end of an era.
A former Barcelona star, Messi had been surrounded by a familiar collection of old friends and teammates from the Spanish club since arriving in Miami. Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets made the move along with him that summer. Luis Suárez joined the next season. But at least two of the three will not be back next year, after Alba and Busquets announced their retirements.
Messi, meanwhile, scored eight goals in his next five games after the Club World Cup. Then, beginning in August, he went on a tear, scoring 11 goals with 10 assists in the final 10 games of the regular season. His playoff form (six goals and nine assists in six games) was arguably better.
Messi made it clear he wanted to send his good friends out the way he did Saturday night — with a title.
“I’m happy they can leave with this title,” Messi said.
Inter Miami has successfully closed the door on the first chapter of its Messi era. But ambition isn’t temporary. So what comes next for a club that proclaims, “It ain’t over”?
Suárez, 38, could return as a reserve, sources with direct knowledge of discussions said. Messi’s Argentina teammate Rodrigo De Paul will occupy a designated player spot next to Messi, one of the two vacated by Busquets and Alba.
But the way Inter Miami exploded through the playoffs could make Inter Miami rethink what the next version of its build looks like. Messi, Suárez and De Paul still deliver star clout. Will Miami look for another big name to fill its third designated player spot? One thing can be certain: The move almost certainly will match the ambition that brought Messi to the club.
“We say goodbye today to two generational players,” Mas said. “But we’ll reload.”
Miami will enter its next era by opening a billion-dollar stadium. Miami Freedom Park will be a home more befitting of a Messi-led club. Miami will also have a star above its crest when it steps out onto that field next season. It was no coincidence that Messi went to the under-construction stadium to sign a three-year contract extension, and as he put pen to paper he seemed to embrace the next, and likely final, phase of his playing career.
His transition to being an owner of Inter Miami feels as present as ever, and his recent comments indicate his desire to not just push his club forward, but also his league.
In an interview with NBC, Messi spoke about MLS’ need to grow and change. It put the star player in line with the philosophy of a club that has always pushed back against the league’s more conservative approach to spending.
De Paul’s addition to this team as a nondesignated player, and the workaround needed to pull it off, is proof of that. No doubt Miami will use its success in 2025 as further proof of concept that MLS is a league begging for change — and that the right levels of ambition, spending and star power can help MLS break through the noise.
It’s an idea that feels like it’s building on the risk David Beckham took when he first left Real Madrid to join MLS in 2007. No global stars of Beckham’s age had yet made that kind of leap. His willingness to be the first, and the creation of the designated player rule that came with it, changed the league.
Now, Inter Miami is ushering MLS toward its next iteration, with Messi as the catalyst.
Messi lifting the MLS Cup is an image that will be seen around the world, an advertisement for North American soccer. If Messi in Miami 1.0 was about proving an unrivaled star could help MLS break through globally, Messi in Miami 2.0 is about taking that promise to new heights.