Sergio Busquets delivers a sobering assessment of Inter Miami’s Club World Cup prospects: Can Messi and the crew defy the odds and make a statement on the global stage?
Inter Miami continues to prepare for a Club World Cup that will be the next big challenge for Javier Mascherano’s men. After being eliminated by Vancouver Whitecaps from the CONCACAF Champions Cup, surprising statements have come from Lionel Messi‘s teammates regarding the Florida club’s ambitions in the new FIFA tournament. It is even claimed that the possibilities of competing are not at all on the agenda and that passing the group stage would be a success in every sense of the word.
“It is clear that we are not at the level to compete in the Club World Cup, but we will try to compete in the group, go game by game, fight, and hopefully we will move on to the next phase, although it will be difficult,” said Sergio Busquets to DAZN during the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami. The reflections of Messi’s teammate both in Barcelona and the United States leave different reflections around the moment that the Mascherano squad is living. It is worth remembering that they will share group number one with clubs such as Palmeiras, Porto, and Al-Ahly of Egypt.
Busquets’ realistic assessment
Busquets’ words are not very far-fetched in the in-depth analysis of the issue. Miami faces the greatest challenge of its short existence and all this in a tournament where, thanks to the location of the United States, they were finally able to qualify. Although Mascherano’s team dreams of a victory against the Africans, the reality is that both Porto’s European experience and the millions invested from Palmeiras threaten a premature elimination before the arrival of July. The challenge and the reward are equally great.
For no one is it a secret that this may be Messi’s last major tournament at the club level. Inter Miami must still certify its qualification for the next edition of the CONCACAF continental tournaments. Taking into account how all the rumors point to a possible retirement after the national teams’ World Cup in 2026, this new FIFA Club World Cup is gaining farewell shades at the level of institutions outside the world of nations for La Pulga. Busquets asks to go day by day and above all not to demand too much from a project that despite the expectation has only just begun.
Everything starts for the American team on June 14. It will be the opening of a FIFA Club World Cup where Messi’s figure is absolutely gravitational at both a sporting and economic level for Zurich. On the 19th, there will be a match against the Portuguese, and finally, the group stage will close on June 23 against Palmeiras. For now, Inter Miami states that Lionel and his teammates are not for anything other than competing to get into the round of 16 of the event that is stealing so many eyes these days in 2025.
“With Messi, we are like Real Madrid”
Josef Martínez, Messi’s former teammate at Inter Miami, spoke to the La Vinotinto podcast about the impact generated by the Argentine upon his arrival in the south of the United States. He confirms the revolution made in MLS around the figure of Lionel Andrés and above all how the club owned by David Beckham has mutated in every way since his signing.
“Before Messi’s first training session, not even in Instagram did they know us, not even the journalists went. People I didn’t know existed wrote to me, even my godfather, whom I hadn’t met. Outside there were 1000 journalists, when we had seen one journalist before. And there were 50,000 people for the first training… With the arrival of Messi we suffered a great change. We went from being the worst team to becoming the Real Madrid of MLS. Everything changed. The day Messi debuted Serena Williams and a chamito who is called LeBron James were there,” his reflections around the phenomenon created by the Argentine in La Florida.
