Messi, Suárez Stun as Inter Miami Open Nu Stadium with Austin FC Draw

Lionel Messi needed less than 10 minutes to make himself comfortable in his new home.

Lionel Messi (left) and Luis Suárez (right) both found the back of the net for Inter Miami on Saturday. | Tomas Diniz Santos/Getty Images

An ordinary game doesn’t have a decorated singer like Marc Anthony belting out the Star Spangled Banner, or David Beckham cutting a ribbon ahead of kickoff. For Inter Miami, though, Saturday was no ordinary day. 

Hitting the pitch at Nu Stadium for the first time in front of an intense crowd, the Herons opened their new home with a 2–2 draw against Austin FC. Despite some strong moments, they seemed overwhelmed by the occasion early in the match, a far cry from the distraction-free outing manager Javier Mascherano had hoped for. 

Marc Anthony canta el Himno Nacional de EE.UU. en la inauguración del Nu Stadium, nuevo estadio de @InterMiamiCF. pic.twitter.com/MdbE1nyvtl

— MLS Español (@MLSes) April 5, 2026

With Messi and his Herons teammates sporting eye-catching grins in the players’ tunnel before walking out onto Nu Stadium for the first time, it marked a new era for the club. They will no longer rely on the covered scaffolding structure in Fort Lauderdale that had been their home since 2020; instead, they begin to put down roots in Miami proper. 

The sell-out crowd of 26,700 brought an enthralling atmosphere right from kickoff. Still, it wasn’t enough to spark Miami to score the historic first goal at the stadium, with that honor falling to Austin FC’s Guilherme Biro, who headed a curled-in corner kick past Dayne St. Clair after being left unmarked in the box in the sixth minute. 

That storyline wasn’t satisfying for Miami—especially, not for a team that has leaned on and defined itself through Lionel Messi’s heroics since the Argentine joined the club in the summer of 2023. 

Less than four minutes after conceding, Messi found the back of the net at the end of an exquisite 15-pass buildup for the Herons, hitting nearly every player from St. Clair before progressing to Messi’s headed finish, earning the first Inter Miami goal at the stadium. 

It was ALWAYS going to be him. 💥

Leo Messi scores Miami's first goal at Nu Stadium and pulls the hosts level! pic.twitter.com/p1mDk5NQk2

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026

The back-and-forth nature of the match left both teams frustrated at halftime. Yet, it was Austin that came out in better force from the break, with offseason winger signing Jayden Nelson forcing a breakaway before beating his Canada men’s national team teammate, St. Clair, to give Los Verdes a 2–1 lead in the 53rd minute. 

Luis Suárez, though, coming off the bench in his diminished role for Miami this season, brought the Herons back level with a perfectly poached goal at the back post, finishing with one touch after Germán Berterame flicked on an inswinging corner kick.

While Miami controlled possession for most of the game, Austin hit on the counterattacks and comfortably absorbed pressure, forcing frustrated looks from Miami players, even as Messi put two free kicks off the woodwork and Maxi Falcón missed a header at the backpost in second half stoppage time.

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Is Luis Suárez the Goalscoring Answer?

Luis Suárez scored his second goal in just his fourth appearance of the 2026 MLS season. | Megan Briggs/Getty Images

For a team with a Messi-led attack, goalscoring issues are an odd question to have. Still, that is what Miami has faced at times through the start of the 2026 season, and what led to a round-of-16 elimination in the Concacaf Champions Cup. 

And after shelling out upwards of $15 million to bring in a reliable goalscorer in Berterame from CF Monterrey, the answer may have been in front of them the whole time—for better or worse, it’s still Suárez. 

Despite his awkward movements and limited mobility in the twilight years of his career, Suárez scored his second MLS goal of the season with the 2–2 marker, bringing him to two goals in a mere 128 minutes across four appearances in 2026. 

That output, compared to Berterame, who has now made eight appearances without a goal, will force Mascherano to make a tough decision. Could the 39-year-old Uruguayan legend be the answer at striker, even in 2026? So far, it’s been rewarding. 

With the pomp and circumstance of their opening match at Nu Stadium now in the books, Messi, Suárez and Inter Miami look ahead to their seventh match of the MLS season next Saturday, as they welcome Michael Bradley’s upstart Red Bull New York for the second game at their new home.

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