Should InterMiami be in the Club World Cup?

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and that’s certainly the case with Inter Miami. After a season that saw them finish with the best regular season record in MLS history and score the most goals in the league, it seemed that the Herons would continue to build on their stellar form and go all the way to win the MLS Cup title. With Miami winning the first leg and leading Atlanta United in the second leg, they looked all but confirmed to mark their presence in the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time. Instead, they relinquished their advantage and allowed Atlanta to pull off a comeback victory at the last second, whilst the third leg would see Atlanta prevail 3-2 in South Florida and achieve one of the greatest shocks in the history of the league.

Whilst this was a heartbreaking defeat for Miami’s players, coaching staff and supporters, it also elicited plenty of jubilation from rival fans, who believed that Miami had received preferential treatment. Just a few weeks earlier, Miami were confirmed as the penultimate team to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup after securing the Supporters’ Shield (given to the MLS team with the best regular season record) with two matches to play. Many accused FIFA of favoring Miami due to them having an array of world-class superstars like Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Luis Suárez, not to mention the greatest player of all time in Lionel Messi. For them, Miami being selected was all about getting the most ticket sales and television views.

Out of the five Concacaf teams who were selected, Monterrey won the 2021 Concacaf Champions League, Seattle Sounders won the 2022 Concacaf Champions League, León won the 2023 Concacaf Champions League, whilst Pachuca won the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. It’s a similar story for the other teams in the tournament – some, like Chelsea, were selected after winning the 2021 UEFA Champions League, whilst others, like River Plate, were selected as the best-ranked eligible team in the CONMEBOL 4-year ranking. In contrast, Miami hadn’t even participated in the Concacaf Champions Cup – the premier club football tournament in North America – until last week, when they defeated Sporting Kansas City 4-1 on aggregate.

“FIFA’s going to do what FIFA wants to do,” stated Apple TV commentator Taylor Twellman. “If anyone’s surprised that the opening game of this inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, which is in Miami, will be starring the greatest player of all time, then nobody’s paying attention.”

Whilst Miami have marked their presence as the greatest team in the history of MLS’ regular season, they haven’t managed to claim the ultimate prize which is the MLS Cup. In contrast, Los Angeles Galaxy (2024 champions), Columbus Crew (2023 champions), Los Angeles FC (2022 champions) and New York City FC (2021) will be on the outside looking in as the Club World Cup kicks off in June.

“Do I think Columbus and LAFC fans have a strong argument? Yes,” added Twellman. “But it’s hard to be cynical about a tournament that’s never happened before. This is a new format, with a new amount of teams, but when the tournament kicks off next summer, I don’t know if anyone’s going to be complaining.”