This was the day Inter Miami co-owner Sir David Beckham had been dreaming of when he purchased the franchise for a discounted £15.6m from Major League Soccer – part of the financial package he negotiated when he joined LA Galaxy as a player in 2007.
Inter Miami made their MLS debut in 2020, having officially launched as a franchise in 2018, and they can now boast the league’s greatest prize.
“All the emotion came out in the final few moments of the game,” Beckham said.
“There was a lot of sleepless nights but I always believed in Miami. I found the right partners and knew anything was possible.
“It says freedom to dream on our shirts and we promised our fans we would deliver. Next year is a new year but tonight we celebrate.”
The arrival of eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi in the summer of 2023 was a watershed moment.
The Herons invested heavily to support Messi in 2023, signing former Barcelona team-mates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, before adding Luis Suarez in 2024.
It took just seven appearances for Messi and co to deliver silverware – Miami’s first-ever – when they beat Nashville to lift the Leagues Cup in August 2023.
In 2024, they won the Supporters’ Shield and Eastern Conference title but came up short in round one of the play-offs.
They reached the play-offs again this season, having finished third in the Eastern Conference, and came through each of the three rounds with aggregate victories of at least four goals.
In October, Messi committed his future to Miami until 2028 as the franchise look to try and capitalise on this momentum.
But Busquets and Alba have played their final game and head coach Javier Mascherano, who won his first trophy as a manager, was delighted to see them end on a high.
“They deserve to finish their career in this way,” Mascherano said.
“They won everything with different clubs but they came here and changed the mentality at Inter Miami, along with Lionel Messi.
“This goodbye is fantastic for them.”
