Messi seals the points record in the MLS and FIFA invites Inter Miami to the Club World Cup

Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, who excelled with a hat trick in just over half an hour on the field, broke the all-time MLS points record this Saturday after beating New England Revolution 6-2 in the last match of the season. regular season. Messi’s exhibition was joined by the Uruguayan Luis Suárez with a double, and the Spaniards Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.

Inter Miami finished the 2024 campaign with 74 points and surpassed the mark that its rival had this afternoon, New England Revolution, which in 2021 won with 73 points.

After the match, in full celebration of the Supporters Shield, Gianni Infantino, announced the invitation to Inter Miami to the neonate tournament

As first in the East and winner of the MLS Supporters’ Shield, which credits them as the best team of the regular season and which already mathematically secured that trophy at the beginning of October, Inter Miami will have home field advantage throughout the playoff, including a hypothetical final for the MLS Cup.

In the first round of the playoffs they will face the winner of the wild card round between Montreal and Atlanta United. Inter Miami came to this last day depending on themselves to break the record but only victory was worth it, a result they achieved with a comeback and suffering in the first half.

Messi, who had just played with the Argentina team on matchdays 9 and 10 of the South American qualifiers, started the game on the bench and entered the field in the 57th minute.

Argentine Luca Langoni put New England Revolution ahead in the 2nd minute and Colombian Dylan Borrero made it 0-2 in the 34th minute after a rude error by goalkeeper Drake Callender. But the Florida team is a specialist in overcoming complex situations. And with Messi on the bench, the savior on this occasion was Luis Suárez, who scored a sensational double in the 40th and 43rd minutes to leave the match tied before the break.

The Uruguayan striker had several opportunities to seal the hat trick but could not find his way to the goal before Messi entered the field in the 57th minute. It only took Messi a few seconds to leave his mark on the match. On his first ball, he built a wall with Jordi Alba and the left back left the goal on a plate to Benjamin Cremaschi in the 57th minute.

It seemed that Inter Miami already had the victory under control, but in the 70th minute New England Revolution equalized again with a goal from Bobby Wood. However, the referee annulled it due to an apparent handball from the striker.

To avoid new surprises, Messi excelled with a great goal from outside the area in the 78th minute, scored the second of his own in the 81st minute and in the 89th minute he closed his splendid triplet against the clock after a great combination with Suárez and the Ecuadorian Leonardo Campana .

With this record, the team led by Argentine Gerardo Martino has closed an exceptional campaign with 20 goals and Suárez, the same as Messi, who also gave 16 assists, although he only played 19 games due to injuries and absence from the Copa América. .

After the match, in the midst of the Supporters Shield celebration, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced, microphone in hand, that Inter Miami was officially invited to the 2025 Club World Cup to be held in the United States.

“Because of this amazing performance this year, they deserve to be and will be in the 2025 Club World Cup,” Infantino told the Inter Miami fans. The FIFA president also detailed that Inter Miami will play the opening match of this new tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in the city of Florida.

The expanded FIFA Club World Cup, which will premiere in the summer of 2025, had a place in the air that corresponded by invitation to the United States, the organizing country. With the ticket for Inter Miami that corresponded to the host country, the only thing left to know is the last team for the Club World Cup, which will be the winner of the 2024 Copa Libertadores.

The first edition of the new FIFA Club World Cup will be played from June 15 to July 13, 2025 with the participation of 32 teams from five continents. In total 63 games will be played in 12 different venues.