Lionel Messi will play for another trophy. Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets clearly aren’t ready to begin their retirements, either.
Tadeo Allande scored three goals – Alba and Busquets, a pair of longtime Messi teammates who will retire when this season ends, had the assists on his first two – and Inter Miami topped New York City FC 5-1 on Saturday night for the Eastern Conference title and a berth in the MLS Cup final.
“We have reached the final with a brotherhood of moving forward,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said. “The power of one group can overcome many things.”
Mateo Silvetti scored in the 67th minute for Inter Miami, with Messi setting up that goal – his 405th assist of his career for club and country, which is generally believed to be the most in soccer history. Telasco Segovia scored off a heel pass from Alba in the 83rd minute to turn it into a runaway, and Allande finishing off the hat-trick in the 89th minute was the final play.
Inter Miami – the No 3 seed in the East – will play host to Vancouver Whitecaps for the league title on 6 December at 2.30pm ET. The Whitecaps defeated San Diego FC 3-1 in the Western Conference final later on Saturday night.
“This is a very satisfying result but the work continues,” Allende said in Spanish. “There is still work to do but happy with what we have accomplished.”
It’ll be the first MLS final appearance for Inter Miami, who had never made it past the opening postseason round in any of its first five seasons. Messi’s club went 0-2 against Vancouver this season, losing both legs of a semi-final meeting in the Concacaf Champions Cup by a 5-1 aggregate score.
Justin Haak scored in the 37th minute for NYC FC, who went 0-2-1 against Inter Miami this season.
The win moves Inter Miami one step closer to another trophy, after winning the Leagues Cup in 2023 and the Supporters’ Shield as MLS’ top regular-season team last year. Messi, a World Cup champion for Argentina and now eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, joined the team midway through the 2023 season when it was at the bottom of the MLS standings and in an 11-match winless streak.
Now? The club’s brand is global, Messi’s No 10 jersey in the club’s pink kit is sold all over the world, a new stadium near Miami International Airport is on the way for next season, Messi is signed through 2028, he seems like a lock to win his second consecutive MLS MVP award and the team is on the brink of an MLS title.
Stars flock to see this team because of Messi; tennis great Carlos Alcaraz was there Saturday night, as were some members of the US women’s national team.
Messi got struck along the left side of his head in the ninth minute and was briefly shaken up, remaining down near the center circle for a few seconds before eventually getting to his feet. He got tripped with Inter Miami on the attack about two minutes later, then took a direct kick from about 30 yards out – playing it into the box, but Silvetti’s header was easily caught by NYC FC goalkeeper Matt Freese.
Inter Miami’s next chance came a minute later. This one was cashed in – a long pass from Busquets was controlled by Allende, who easily beat Freese from about 12 yards out for a 1-0 lead.
Allende struck again on a header off a long pass from Alba in the 23rd minute, making it 2-0. And after Messi set Silvetti up for the 3-1 lead, what essentially was a 25-minute or so countdown to a celebration was under way.
Whitecaps’ early strikes end San Diego’s magical debut season
Brian White scored a first-half brace and the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps comfortably secured their first MLS Cup final appearance with a 3-1 victory over San Diego FC in Saturday night’s Western Conference Final.
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Andrés Cubas and Ali Ahmed connected to set up both of White’s goals for No 2 seed Vancouver, who will visit Eastern champion Inter Miami next Saturday in a meeting of teams who have never won MLS’s top honor.
It’s also a rematch of this April’s Concacaf Champions Cup semi-final, in which Vancouver earned a 5-1 aggregate victory over two legs.
Ahmed also had the shot that led to Vancouver’s other first-half tally, ultimately credited as an own goal to San Diego goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega.
Half-time substitute Hirving Lozano pulled a heavily deflected goal back for Western Conference No 1 seen San Diego, who completed the deepest playoff run by an MLS expansion side since the Chicago Fire won MLS Cup 1998.
The hosts finished with 10 men after Sisniega was sent off in the 79th minute for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Despite scoring 16 regular-season goals, recent injuries had prevented White from scoring since late September.
That changed quickly during Vancouver’s brilliant first half.
Cubas did exceptional work to set up White’s first, creating the opportunity by forcing a turnover on the left flank before combining on an intricate sequence with Ahmed to get into the left side of the penalty area.
From there, Cubas guided a low ball to the back post where White met it with a sliding finish from close range in the eighth minute.
Three minutes later, Emmanuel Sabbi worked down the right by combining with Thomas Müller before seeing Sisniega deny his effort from in close.
The rebound rolled to the penalty area where Ahmed met it with a first-time strike which the scrambling Sisniega saved, only to inadvertently turn it across his own line.
White used his chest to guide in his second goal after another combination from Cubas and Ahmed down the left, this time with Ahmed providing the final outsinging service to pick out White only a couple of yards out and in plenty of space in the second minute of first-half stoppage time.