Lionel Messi will be the representative of Inter Miami at the FIFA Club World Cup. The six-week tournament from June 14 to July 13, 2025, across the United States and featuring 32 teams, will set the world's eyes on the side he has been piloting since mid-2023. More than a tournament, this will be a milestone in the history of Major League Soccer. Inter comes in as host club and bears on its shoulders not just the weight of the symbol but also global influence of its star player.
Messi’s presence has turned Inter Miami into something unprecedented by league standards. The club stopped being just an ambitious project and became an international showcase. The pink and black jersey now circulates through cities that never imagined caring about MLS. And this doesn’t come from marketing talk, but from a real effect that spreads across generations.
From Miami to the world
The phenomenon is not only visible even in nations with profound soccer traditions. German World Cup champion and Ballon d'Or winner Lothar Matthäus witnesses this in his native country. "He is a hero for most of the kids. Not just in America. In Germany too," he stated, when speaking about how many Messi jerseys he notices when observing his 11-year-old son train. "The classic Barcelona jersey, the new Inter Miami jersey."
The appeal is real. Messi left the center of European first-division soccer, but his relevance has grown. He no longer shows up in Champions League finals but plays for new supporters who never imagined they would witness a player of that caliber in a stadium in the United States. Choosing Miami as his home was a turning point for the league, for the club, and for the image of MLS outside North America.
Children are identifying with an MLS team because they want to wear the name that's on the back of those jerseys. That reach shows how strong Messi’s image remains even outside Europe’s elite.
In Group A, Inter Miami will face the likes of Al Ahly (Egypt), FC Porto (Portugal), and Palmeiras (Brazil). It is not a walkover group, but with Messi on the field, the team commands automatic respect. Matthäus puts the influence so perfectly: "It's not too much pressure because Messi has dealt with pressure his whole life. He knows what pressure means."
Inter Miami carries U.S. soccer on the shoulders of a genius
Inter is not coming to the tournament alone. It also carries the weight of the American expectations. It is, after all, the largest FIFA club tournament ever to be played in the United States. And the host team is the one carrying the biggest name in the history of contemporary soccer. If the Herons perform well, the image of MLS will rise with them. And if they fall, the impact will simply be the opposite.
Since Messi came on board, Inter Miami has lived a new reality. Matches began getting international coverage, sponsorship interest began increasing, social media traction quickened, and the brand of the club entered a never-ending cycle of growth. Even that seeps down into the MLS underneath, gradually building itself even more as an emerging league with commercial value.
The club still also has sporting problems on the inside. It needs to prove consistency in the regular season and perform more on an equal basis with the league's powerhouses. But where visibility is concerned, nothing can compare to that of any other American club. Inter has set the standard.