SI

‘Very Beautiful’—Inter Miami’s Messi Project Seals MLS Cup As Alba, Busquets Retire in Glory

Lionel Messi had two assists as Inter Miami defeated Vancouver Whitecaps to win the club’s first MLS Cup.

Ben Steiner

Lionel Messi led Inter Miami to the 2025 MLS Cup title on Saturday.
Lionel Messi led Inter Miami to the 2025 MLS Cup title on Saturday. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

FORT LAUDERDALE – The final pass of Jordi Alba’s career was perfect.

Lionel Messi lurked in midfield, and Alba offered a deft chip to the Argentine’s chest, before Tadeo Allende finished the attack. The Alba-Messi linkup, which bloomed and blossomed at Barcelona, provided one final, fleeting moment to savor. 

It sealed the final trophy as well, as Inter Miami defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 3–1 to win the 2025 MLS Cup in the final match of Alba’s and longtime teammate Sergio Busquets’s careers. 

“Given what they’ve been—as players, both were among the greatest in history, each in his position, with the careers they had and the titles they won—it’s wonderful that they can retire with this MLS title,” Messi said after the match, where he was named 2025 MLS Cup MVP.

“Today, something very beautiful ends for them, something to which they dedicated their whole lives. Now a new life begins for them. I wish them the very best, because they are two friends I care for deeply. I’m happy they can leave with this title.”

The moment and that goal in particular was the culmination of everything Inter Miami’s co-owners, David Beckham, Jorge and Jose Mas, had dreamed of. A chance to see the greatest player of a generation lift the highest honor in MLS, clad in pink with silver confetti falling on a hot and humid December day. 

Inter Miami’s Messi Project

Inter Miami
Lionel Messi (left) could be the lone returnee of the foursome of himself, Jordi Alba (center left), Luis Suárez (center right) and Sergio Busquets (right) for Inter Miami in 2026. / Elsa/Getty Images

It was a culmination for Messi himself as well. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner had no assurances when he arrived in MLS and with Inter Miami in 2023, a league still growing and a club that had enjoyed zero success. 

In his first full season, he won the MLS MVP award with 20 goals and 16 assists in 19 games, but the year ended with MLS Cup playoff heartbreak in the first round. A year later, he authored one of the league’s best campaigns, racking up 35 goals and 28 assists in 34 matches across the regular season and playoffs. 

“Three years ago, I decided to come to MLS, and today we are MLS champions,” Messi added. 

“Winning MLS was one of our main objectives. The team made a huge effort—it was a very long year, with many matches—and we were up to the task all season. This is the moment I had been waiting for, and that we, as a team, were waiting for. It’s very beautiful for all of us. They deserved it.”

In the club’s last match before opening Miami Freedom Park, they lived up to their club motto: “Freedom to Dream”—as their visions became reality in front of one final sold-out Chase Stadium.

“This was my dream,” Beckham told FOX Soccer. “My dream was to bring a club to this city and to be successful, and also bring in the best player in the world, so tonight was pretty surreal and it’s a moment I’ll cherish forever.”

MLS Cup: Not Without Doubt for Inter Miami

Lionel Messi
José Mas (left), Jorge Mas (left center) and David Beckham (right) helped build the MLS Cup champions, led by Lionel Messi (center right) / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

For all of the emotion and magic that exploded in victory on Saturday, there were times when it felt in doubt. 

Under first-year manager Javier Mascherano, Miami constructed an unbalanced roster, one which faltered in the early season and fell to the same Whitecaps in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal.

While they improved, the team that won MLS Cup is not the same without the world’s best player and likely would not have been in that position. Messi, even in his twilight years as a footballer, is just that good. 

Before 2025, there was the 2024 playoff upset and the 2023 U.S. Open Cup loss. The Herons also added a Leagues Cup loss to the Seattle Sounders in 2025. The potential moments with Messi and the mid-2010s Barcelona core were fleeting, and MLS Cup lay as a final shot at history.

Throughout Saturday’s match, the Whitecaps were the better team. Miami got their first goal from an own goal, but for an hour, it looked as though Vancouver were going to send the Herons home disappointed, especially when Emmanuel Sabbi’s opportunity to make it 2–1 ricocheted off both posts.

“We knew it would be a very difficult game, and they had a shot bounce off two posts, but that is the kind of luck you need to win a championship,” said Mascherano, whose press conference was interrupted by beer showers from his players. 

“We ended up on the doorstep of the Concacaf Champions Cup. We ended up on the doorstep of the Leagues Cup and competed like no one else in the Club World Cup... I want to congratulate the players for knowing how to overcome tough moments.”

A New Era for Inter Miami in 2026

Inter Miami
Sergio Busquets (left) and Jordi Alba (center) will retire, but David Beckham (right) will seek replacements. / Elsa/Getty Images

If there’s any player who knows about creating a dynasty with an MLS club, it’s Beckham, who won two MLS Cup titles with the LA Galaxy and remains as one of the most formative players in league history. 

Now, having become the first person to win MLS Cup as a player and an owner, his dreams and desires for what Inter Miami can be only raise. At the same time, so too do the players’ desires, as they target another MLS Cup and the Concacaf Champions Cup in 2026. 

“This has to be a push for the club,” said Mascherano. “Don’t settle for winning the first league title, but go for more. I think the club has taken the right steps—not this year, but the last few years. Take advantage of this momentum for what’s coming.”

When they do return, though, it will be a different Inter Miami. Messi is signed through the 2027–28 MLS season, but Alba and Busquets won’t be back, and Luis Suárez appears unlikely to return as well. 

But even with new players, the goal won’t change: Freedom to Dream. 

READ THE LATEST MLS NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND GOSSIP

feed

Published
Ben Steiner
BEN STEINER

Ben Steiner is an American-Canadian journalist who brings in-depth experience, having covered the North American national teams, MLS, CPL, NWSL, NSL and Liga MX for prominent outlets, including MLSsoccer.com, CBC Sports, and OneSoccer.

Home/Soccer