Inter Miami’s chances of winning the MLS Cup ended earlier this month, but luckily for them, their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup had been announced a couple weeks before.
FIFA’s President Gianni Infantino was present at Chase Stadium during Inter Miami’s last regular season game, which also featured a ceremony where the Herons lifted the Supporters’ Shield, which goes to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record. Infantino told fans their club will be part of the big international tournament next year.
“Many congratulations for winning the Supporters’ Shield,” Infantino said. “You are the best team of the season in America.”
Infantino seemingly forgot what matters most, the postseason.
Yes, Inter Miami CF had a historic campaign, as Tata Martino’s side broke the record for most points ever in a single MLS regular season with 74. However, any club’s ultimate goal at the beginning of the season is to be MLS Cup champion, not the Supporters’ Shield winner.
To make matters worse, MLS was not allowed to make the decision. As reported by MLS insider Tom Bogert, it was FIFA that chose to have the winners of the Supporters’ Shield at the Club World Cup.
FIFA’s call was nonsensical from the start. Awarding the honor of representing the United States in the Club World Cup before a champion was crowned at the end of the season is truly baffling, and it became even worse now that Inter Miami was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Time is not really an issue here, considering the draw for the Club World Cup is planned tomorrow night and the MLS Cup final will be played on Dec. 7. FIFA could’ve just waited a couple days or conducted the draw knowing that whoever wins the MLS Cup will occupy the only host nation slot.
This new competition comes after years of the original concept losing relevancy and appeal. For decades, the Champions League and Copa Libertadores winners faced each other in an anticipated final. Then, in the early 2000s, continental champions from other confederations started joining in.
Still, there has been a noticeable gap between the European champions and every other team in the last few years. In fact, the last time a club from another continent won was in 2012, so a change that could get fans more excited was needed.
Although the idea of crowning a world champion by taking inspiration from a successful format sounds good, including Inter Miami under these circumstances doesn’t help the tournament get closer to the level of importance and glory attached to the World Cup that national teams play in.
The other 31 confirmed participants in this ambitious project have either been continental champions in the last four years or qualified through a ranking system in each of their confederations. This is not the case for Inter Miami CF.
Not sharing a clear criteria to begin with gave FIFA and Infantino some wiggle room, and they used that to their advantage. Had they waited until the MLS Cup was conquered, the backlash might’ve been too great if the international soccer governing body still tried to give it to Inter Miami.
Now we’re seeing an extremely unfair situation where the real top team in MLS will not be representing the league on a global stage. Instead, a star studded squad that severely underperformed when the lights shined brightest will take that place.
Former USMNT player Alexi Lalas expressed his discontent with this resolution.
“Inter Miami qualified in the mind of Gianni Infantino and in the mind of FIFA. There was no qualifying process that was laid out ahead of time,” Lalas stated. “When teams and players do not know what they are ultimately playing for, I think it’s disingenuous to say that you qualified for a tournament, other than just some subjective thing that happens after the fact.”
Inter Miami CF is arguably the most marketable team in America. Lionel Messi and the city of Miami will bring attention, money, and prestige to a tournament that was given a big name and has huge expectations to meet. Yet, moves like this one make it lose credibility in the eyes of those who closely follow the sport in North America and the world.
Both the draw and the opening match for the FIFA Club World Cup will be held in Miami.
The team has some certainties going into next year, since Luis Suarez recently signed an extension that makes him an Inter Miami player through the 2025 MLS season.
Next season will bring changes to South Florida as well, with Javier Mascherano replacing Tata Martino as the head coach. Inter Miami announced that Martino left the club due to personal reasons.
A big question is the future of Messi himself, because he is reportedly in talks to extend his contract. But no matter what happens during those negotiations, the Argentinian legend has a deal through 2025.
Mascherano said he already talked to Messi about his vision for the team in this new chapter.
“Leo shared his thoughts with me, they’re not very different from what I explained to him.”
