Is Inter Miami at risk of being exposed at the Club World Cup?

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The football world knows where Lionel Messi plays these days. They may not have known much more beyond that. Saturday night’s Club World Cup opener, a scoreless draw between Inter Miami and Al Ahly, revealed the hard truth about Messi’s new team.

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With more than 60,000 fans in attendance at Hard Rock Stadium, and many millions more watching from their homes around the globe, Miami looked pedestrian on the big stage. It wasn’t down to a lack of effort. Both teams were aggressive, but on this night, it was Miami that had the big names.

Messi was omnipresent, but Sergio Busquets struggled to make a difference in his holding midfield role. It was another example of the World Cup winner’s steady decline as a top-flight footballer. Busquets was once connected telepathically to Messi in midfield. Today, the 36-year-old’s once trademark pull-back drag is too slow to fool an opposing player.

The same goes for Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan is an authoritative presence in the Miami dressing room. He has taken on the role of club spokesperson in the early stages of the tournament, something that Messi clearly has no interest in doing. But on the Hard Rock Stadium pitch, which played well on opening night, Suarez too was ineffective as a No 9. He could not beat the faster and more agile Al Ahly defenders, so he turned provider.

Suarez is shown a yellow card against Al Ahly (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Some of Suarez’s best plays came away from the six-yard box where for years, for Liverpool, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, he would score goals for fun. He fought through the knee pain he lives with and ran until the final whistle on Saturday. But it was hard to watch for those who remember the former Nacional academy product as a lethal force in front of goal.

Miami is, as Al Ahly manager Jose Riveiro said on Friday, “a team with big names”, but Miami is limited beyond that.

After a disjointed performance in the first 45 minutes, Miami regained composure and played much better in the second half. Despite the scoreline, this was an entertaining match with both teams desperate for the three points that would have felt like a lottery win in a group that includes Porto and Palmeiras. Saturday was an opportunity for Miami to avoid feeling desperate for a victory against two much stronger opponents.

It was also a chance for Miami to make a positive first impression in front of a global audience that remains intrigued by Messi’s final years as a professional.

“We know how Leo approaches a tournament like this one,” Suarez said after the match. “It’s an important challenge for him and we have to be there alongside him. We also know how difficult this tournament is going to be. We have to take advantage of the opportunity to continue to grow as a team because it’ll help us throughout this year.”

Suarez, Marcelo Weigandt and Messi applaud the supporters after the 0-0 draw (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

And that’s the dilemma that Miami is facing at this Club World Cup.

Perhaps the results will not matter much, but the experience of playing in the competition will prove far more valuable in years to come. And yet, in Messi they have a serial winner who understands his team’s shortcomings, but who cannot seem to turn off the competitive switch that makes him one of the sport’s greatest-ever players. Messi needs help. He cannot carry this team on his own. On Friday, head coach Javier Mascherano attempted to remain optimistic about his team’s chances to play a significant part in the tournament.

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“This is another level, one we’re not accustomed to,” he said. “Even if we have four players who are used to it for the past 15 years. We need their mentality to be contagious. Why not us?”

But Mascherano’s frustration with the team’s lack of new players before the tournament also reached a boiling point on the eve of the opening match. Miami did not make any new signings during the short-term transfer window in June that FIFA created to allow teams to strengthen their tournament squads. A number of teams added new players, whether as new signings or loan deals. Miami did nothing.

“I’ve been saying this for a while now: I’m in charge of preparing the team and to train the players that I’m given,” said Mascherano. “I would’ve liked to have new signings, clearly, especially considering this competition. We’re possibly in the most important tournament in this club’s history. It’s a club with little history but this is the most important tournament they’ve been in.

“I can only concern myself with what I can control and what I myself can do. Eventually, every person will have to accept their own responsibilities, and each person will have to own what corresponds to them.”

Mascherano watches on from the dugout (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Mascherano’s less-than-subtle dig at the club’s sporting department set the stage for Saturday’s match. The former Argentina national team captain, who is in his first job as the coach of a professional club, set low expectations and appeared to throw in the towel before the first kick of the tournament. After the draw against Al Ahly, Mascherano changed his messaging, rather drastically.

“When we saw in the second half that this is the way: to be fearless and to ignore any time of pressure we may be feeling,” he told reporters. “When we play like that, we can match up with any team.”

Suarez predicted on Friday that there would be some surprise results at the tournament. “Let’s hope it comes from our end, but we know how difficult it’s going to be,” he added. There were no surprises at Hard Rock Stadium. Miami played like the team that has been wildly inconsistent during MLS play in 2025. The lack of squad depth was evident.

Busquets (left), challenging Emam Ashour, struggled against Al Ahly (Sandra Montanez/Getty Images)

If it hadn’t been for Oscar Ustari, the 38-year-old Miami goalkeeper, Miami could have been embarrassed. Ustari’s saves — including a penalty in the 43rd minute — kept Al Ahly at bay when the Egyptian side dominated play early. In the end, both goalkeepers were the stars. Mohamed El Shenawy, 36, was Al Ahly’s savior as well.

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The final result, however, was less important than the spectacle on opening night. FIFA president Gianni Infantino surely must have left the stadium smiling, but the Messi moment he hoped for, one that would have surely gone viral and positioned the Argentine as the face of the tournament, will have to wait.

Until then, Miami is happy to be among the 32 participating clubs. That’s their reality.

“The fact that we’re here in front of all of these fans in this stadium, in our city, and playing the opening game in the Club World Cup… it’s an incredible position to be in,” Miami co-owner Sir David Beckham told tournament rights-holders DAZN before the match.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve done in the last five years. But this is the next step and it’s a very exciting night for us, but it’s not going to be an easy one. But we’re ready.”

You can sign up to DAZN to watch every FIFA Club World Cup game for free.

(Top photo: Mohamed Tageldin/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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