Inter Miami won the Supporters’ Shield: could Messi participate in the 2025 Club World Cup?
(CNN, Spanish) – Inter Miami won Wednesday’s decider against the Columbus Crew with a 3-2 win, earning the Lionel Messi-led side the Supporters’ Shield title, awarded to the best team in the regular season in Major League Soccer (MLS). ).
This is Inter Miami’s second title in its small trophy haul – after winning the League Cup in 2023 – which, while it lacks international prestige, makes one thing clear: the Herons are here to compete and are on a path that could take them to the Club World Cup next year.
So, first things first. What did he win?
The Columbus Crew hosted Inter Miami at Lower.com Field in Ohio, who finished top of the MLS Eastern Conference with 65 points.
It was an even matchup: the Columbus Crew are the reigning MLS champions and trail Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference with 57 points and one game less.
The team, led by Gerardo “Tata” Martino, triumphed with two goals from star Lionel Messi (man of the match) and one from Luis Suarez. They led the game 3–1, but Juan “Cucho” Hernandez scored Columbus’ second goal in the 61st minute from the penalty spot. Hernandez himself missed another penalty in the 84th and the match ended 3–2.
Miami was left with 68 points. The title is won.
For Messi’s team, the victory over the Columbus Crew was not only an opportunity to win a new title, but also an opportunity to prevail as the team with the most points in the regular season.
The current record, as indicated by the Inter Miami website, was set by the New England Revolution in 2021 with 73 points. To surpass this figure, Inter Miami has no room for error and will have to score 6 points out of the possible 6 they have left to reach 74 points.
Setting this record would be symbolic of how much the team has changed since Messi arrived at Herons, from finishing penultimate in the 2023 regular season to winning the Supporters’ Shield with a record number of points.
Inter Miami appears to be on a winning streak, having drawn their last three games. Wednesday’s match was an additional duel between the scorers of both teams: Luis Suarez (now 18 goals) and Cucho Hernandez (17 goals). Messi also has 17 left.
The regular season will end on October 19th and make way for the playoffs on October 26th.
Regardless of whether they win the Supporters’ Shield, Inter Miami’s regular season performance will ensure a spot in the next Concacaf Champions Cup.
This will be the 60th edition of the competition and will take place from February to June 2025 with 27 teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
There are currently 12 teams competing in this tournament, with Inter Miami advancing to the first round. However, according to Concacaf, if Inter Miami wins the MLS final (scheduled for December 7), it will ensure direct passage to the round of 16.
Now the winner of the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup gets a direct place in the FIFA Club World Cup, but next year’s winner will compete in the 2029 World Cup as they are already assigned all Concacaf places with corresponding places in the 2025 World Cup. champions from 2021 to 2024 (Monterrey, Seattle Sounders, Club Leon, Pachuca).
FIFA has revamped the Club World Cup and next year it will debut in a 32-team format, with the United States hosting the tournament.
It will take place from June 15 to July 13, with only two spots remaining to be determined: the 2024 Copa Libertadores Conmebol champion and one host country spot.
This is where Messi’s Inter Miami can take part in the competition. So far, FIFA has not approved a method for selecting a spot to match a U.S. club.
Will FIFA award this spot to the winner of the Supporters’ Shield or the team that wins the MLS final between the Eastern and Western Conference champions? Neither of these two scenarios have been confirmed and FIFA has not given a date for when this will happen.
In any case, for now, Inter Miami is still fighting for either of these two scenarios. In the hypothetical (but not impossible) case that Inter Miami reaches this position in the host country, Messi’s club will take part in the tournament, which will also include prestigious clubs such as Bayern Munich from Germany, Juventus from Italy, Manchester City from Italy. England, Boca Juniors and River Plate from Argentina, Flamengo from Brazil and, of course, Real Madrid from Spain and others.