Lionel Messi shared that he has different expectations with Inter Miami going into the 2025 Club World Cup than when competing previously with other teams, but that he remains eager to do well among the best teams in the world.
Messi has competed in previous iterations of the tournament, winning the 2009, 2011 and 2015 editions with Barcelona.
“Well, it’s an interesting competition,” Messi told FIFA on Friday. “Having the chance to be part of it is exciting. The expectations I have are different to the ones I had when I played for other teams, but I’m eager and I look forward to competing against the best [teams] and doing well.”
The 2025 version of the tournament, being held across the United States, features an expansion to 32 teams for the first time. Inter Miami and Messi are set to kick off the competition against Egypt’s Al Ahly on Saturday before confronting FC Porto of Portugal and Brazil’s Palmeiras in the group stage.
In contrast to the long and rich histories of many of the other clubs competing in the FIFA competition, Miami only debuted in Major League Soccer in 2020.
“Like I said before, they have the best players in the world,” Messi added. “So it’s a great opportunity to go up against them, and a really nice experience both for the players on the pitch and for the fans in the stands.”
For Saturday’s opener, Miami will be without one of their players with previous Club World Cup experience in Messi’s ex-Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba. Miami head coach Javier Mascherano confirmed Friday that Alba, Yannick Bright and Gonzalo Luján will all miss out through injury, though expressed hope that they could return for the second game against Porto on Thursday.
Mascherano also expressed frustration that Miami has failed to add to its roster ahead of the competition.
“For the last few months, we have been saying that we needed to get some reinforcements,” he told reporters. “Not only because we have some injured players, but also because we decided at the end of the MLS market to let Robert Taylor and Julian Gressel go because we needed to have the opportunity to bring other players in.
“This is the most important competition in the history of our club. It has a rather short life, but this is the most important competition that we have taken part of. And as I have said before, I am only concerned with what I can control and what I can do and then the other parties will have to take their own responsibility and talk for themselves.
“On my side, the only responsibility is to prepare the best possible game, and I am happy with that. But it is clear that we needed to reinforce our squad, and it has not happened. “
Inter Miami players have maintained that the team will approach the tournament game by game with the hopes of qualifying to the knockout rounds and, despite not having the roster he desires, Mascherano said they would relish the opportunity to measure themselves against the world’s best for the first time in a competitive environment.
“I think it’s a huge opportunity for us to test each other out to see what our level is,” he said. “Maybe we know what the level that we have is within MLS and Concacaf, where we competed head-to-head to the very last of the Concacaf Champions League.
“Now the level is higher and we want to be up to the level so from the emotional side there are no questions, no hesitations. We have a beautiful possibility ahead of us and the challenge is something that we welcome with excitement, with a great deal of self-confidence. We are looking forward to showcasing our true potential as a team.”
