Lionel Messi at the Club World Cup? Five teams we want to see his Inter Miami side face – Sporting News

Liam Happe
The Club World Cup, once a quick mini-tournament featuring the winners of continental club honours such as the Champions League and Copa Libertadores, will expand to a full-on 32-team event across the span of a month in the summer of 2025.
And it looks like Lionel Messi’s current side, MLS outfit Inter Miami, will be allocated one of those spots at the event.
Kaveh Solhekol explained on social media that an invitational berth is set to make its way to Inter Miami since the United States are the hosts of the tournament, ahead of their joint-staging of the following year’s international World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico.
With Miami having won the 2024 MLS Supporters Shield (best league record across both the Eastern and Western Conferences, before a knockout playoffs format decides the MLS Cup winner), Solhekol says it will be they (and Messi) who are invited.
So, among the 30 other teams we already know will take part, what sort of mouthwatering contests can we cross our fingers for?
Here are five particularly interesting scenarios that December’s draw could offer.
Messi caused Real fans many long and tough nights following their side when he was at the heart of Barcelona’s attack for many years, and Inter Miami vs. Real Madrid would bring back memories of some of those peak Clasico encounters.
Real are in the tournament as the current Champions League holders, beating Borussia Dortmund in the most recent final.
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Man City, meanwhile, will be at the tournament due to winning the 2022-23 edition of the Champions League over Inter Milan.
A reunion with current City boss Pep Guardiola could be on the cards if they encounter Inter Miami — the Spaniard coached Messi for many years at Barca, including a 2008-09 treble-winning campaign many consider one of the best club seasons of all time.
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After leaving Barcelona in a scenario some though would never come to pass, Messi spent two years at PSG in France’s Ligue 1 from 2021 to 2023.
The Parisians are one of nine European clubs invited to the tournament by virtue of their UEFA four-year ranking.
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River Plate are one of two clubs in Argentina set to participate, and could officially attend as the 2024 Copa Libertadores winners if they triumph in both their semi-final and final.
Even if not, they will qualify nonetheless via their four-year CONMEBOL ranking and offer Messi a chance to compete against a representative of his home country during the tournament.
The other team that could bring Messi face-to-face with many compatriots for Club World Cup action serve an even more interesting proposition.
Boca Juniors are in due to their four-year ranking, and happen to be the club that Messi’s idol and former coach Diego Maradona played for twice, either side of his legendary stints at Barcelona and Napoli.
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Liam is a freelance editor for The Sporting News working across global English editions.

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