The Club World Cup was to be a showcase for Inter Miami, and the tournament would announce that it was among the world’s elite football clubs.

Inter Miami is a new club, the brainchild of a consortium including Manchester United legend David Beckham and two very rich Cuban American brothers.

Based in South Florida, Inter Miami was founded in 2018 as part of Major League Soccer (MLS), the US version of the English Premier League. Inter Miami played its first game in 2020.

Inter Miami is still a very young franchise, untested against the world’s best. The team boasts world stars like Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, David Ruiz, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, albeit now past their glory days.

With 32 participating clubs from around the world, the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 is expected to become a major tournament, with ambitions to rival the World Cup.

Inter Miami did well to beat the Portuguese club giant Porto, and that gave them confidence. They moved beyond the group stage into the last sixteen, looking to cause big upsets.

PSG is arguably the best club side in the world right now, and the French team destroyed Inter Miami 4-0. How Lionel Messi must rue his decision to leave PSG for this US adventure! The gulf in class was evident, and Inter Miami remains a work in progress.

The club, based in Florida, is in sixth position in the MLS’ Eastern Conference, not a position it can say it is happy with.

Before the drubbing from PSG, Inter Miami squandered a two-goal lead against the Brazilian team, Palmeiras, in the group stage. That game ended 2-2.

PSG’s victory brought Inter Miami back down to earth. They leave the World Club Cup, second in the group stage, making it to the last sixteen. That’s not too shabby at this stage in the club’s history.

Inter Miami’s captain Lionel Messi said: “We remain with the sentiment against Palmeiras that winning the game 2-0 and drawing, we had to face PSG, which was more complicated. Getting the draw in the final minutes left a sour taste.” 

The MLS is not ready to go up against the giants of world football and must be realistic about just where it is at this time.

Inter Miami surely could not expect to best the kings of European football. It did well just to make it out of the group stage and did enough to bring further awareness of its brand. 

Should Inter Miami have been included in the group stage is another question for another day.