On October 20th 2024, FIFA announced that Inter Miami would be the winner of the FIFA Supporter Shield award.  This means that the team is the recipient of the final qualifying spot to participate in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.  Analysts and fans alike are criticizing this decision as favoritism for the club as they believe FIFA just wants to include Messi in their new tournament.

This all comes after the President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, announced that Inter Miami would be co-hosting the 2025 Club World Cup along with the CONCACAF Champions League Winner Seattle Sounders.  

During the awarding ceremony, Infantino’s reasoning for awarding the Supporter Shield to Miami is that they  “are the best team of the season in America,”  This praise for the club comes after Miami’s 6-2 win versus Nashville SC, bringing them to the 1st place spot in points for the entire Eastern Conference.

However, the original point of the Supporter’s Shield is to commemorate the team that has performed the best throughout the entire season.  While this is how it’s been used so far, this season is a little different. 

“But let’s not forget that before Messi, Miami was struggling.  Their late season success has led to much conversation on whether their late season success truly nominated them, or some thinks it’s just ‘The Messi Effect,’” said MLS Analyst Jose Hernandez.

Hernandez is talking about the Argentinean 37 year old player and Inter Miami co-owner, who just signed to Inter Miami, presumably as a retirement club.  As Messi is considered one of if not the best players in the world, his late-season arrival to the club turned Inter Miami’s last place performance into first place in the Eastern Conference.

“This is a perfect example of how money and big-name players can tilt the playing field,” said former MLS Player Tom Richardson.  Richardson, along with many other former and current professional players, believe that the integrity of the MLS has been compromised.

While the Supporter’s Shield is not the most significant award ever, it qualified the club for the 2025 FIFA World Cup, making it the more controversial part.

It has been a known fact the United States would be the home country for the tournament for a few years and fans believe that one of the most dominant teams as of recent years would win the honor  With the revampment of the event, no one knew how the host club would be decided, until it was announced that Inter Miami would through the Supporter’s Shield.  

Many fans and analysts believe that Inter Miami will not stand a chance against European and South American clubs, which is a statement that has proved to be true for the most part throughout Club World Cup history.  And while many argue that Inter Miami will perform and win their spot through performance, others such as Jose Hernandez argue that “even though they probably won’t even stand a chance, I would rather have a team that earned their way in to get a chance to compete.”