A few days ago, FIFA President Gianni Infantino personally announced that Inter Miami would be awarded a ticket to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup after the team won the Supporters’ Shield (points-based championship in the MLS).

FIFA hastily awarded Inter Miami a ticket to the FIFA Club World Cup even though the club has not won the MLS championship (Photo: Getty).

“Inter Miami have proven that in the United States, you are the best on the pitch. Therefore, I am proud to announce that the team deserves to participate in the new FIFA Club World Cup in 2025,” the head of FIFA shared.

With the FIFA Club World Cup set to be expanded next year, many are unsure what criteria FIFA will use to award Inter Miami a spot. Will they be participating as the “top MLS team” or the “home team” of the tournament?

As the “best team in MLS”, Inter Miami has not won that title. Because they are the team with the most points in the scoring phase. The MLS championship is decided only after the playoff phase. That is the most prestigious title in the US Major League Soccer.

As the “host team”, FIFA also needs to hold a vote to find the team that will represent the US in the tournament. Of course, many clubs in the US are not happy with Inter Miami automatically getting a ticket.

It should be added that Inter Miami is the only club among the 31 teams that has qualified for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup based solely on domestic results (although the MLS is only halfway through). The remaining teams are determined by continental results. The 32nd team, the Copa Libertadores champion (South American C1 Cup), has not yet been determined.

FIFA is exploiting Messi’s name for business (Photo: Getty).

Clearly, Inter Miami has not met any of the criteria to qualify. Many believe that FIFA rushed to award the Florida team a ticket because they wanted to “ride on” Lionel Messi’s reputation. In addition, Inter Miami also has many players who have played in Europe such as Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba. Therefore, in terms of impact, they are clearly much bigger than the rest of the teams in the US Major League.

On social media, many fans were confused by FIFA’s decision to award Inter Miami the right to participate. Here are some of the comments on Twitter:

“FIFA is cheating to get Inter Miami a ticket to the FIFA Club World Cup”.

“Give the ticket to the US champion, not the half-season champion.”

“FIFA takes advantage of Messi ‘s reputation for business. The appearance of this player ensures profits for FIFA.”

“Gianni Infantino is so smart in business.”

The world media was also unhappy with FIFA’s decision. The New York Times said that the organization had made a “clumsy decision” when it gave the ticket to Inter Miami. Meanwhile, AS emphasized that FIFA was too favorable to Messi.