Inter Miami moved fast from an expansion side to a contender. The club’s first silverware came in the 2023 Leagues Cup, then they added the 2024 Supporters’ Shield for the best regular season record in MLS. With Lionel Messi leading, the squad’s ambition and discipline turned momentum into achievement.
Here is a clear look at Inter Miami’s trophies, how each was won, who drove those wins, and what might come next as the project matures. For fans and neutrals, the big question now is simple: How far can this team go in turning promise into long-term silverware?
Inter Miami’s Trophy History
The club’s first major trophy was the 2023 Leagues Cup. They beat Nashville SC in the final on penalties after a 1–1 draw, with Drake Callender saving the last kick. Lionel Messi was the tournament’s Best Player and top scorer with 10 goals.
The Inter Miami Leagues Cup run set a new tone of resilience and determination for the club. In 2024, they won the Supporters’ Shield with a record 74 points total for an MLS regular season.
The MLS Supporters’ Shield is awarded to the team with the most points. Miami clinched it with a 3–2 win at Columbus. The performance reflected their growing on-field understanding and composure in tight games.
First Major Title Wins
The 2023 Leagues Cup changed how Inter Miami saw themselves. Inside the dressing room, Messi’s late goals and Callender’s penalty saved rewired belief. Pressure games were no longer something to fear, but a stage to own. Training intensity rose, and standards for tracking back and pressing tightened. Veterans started driving small details like set-piece routines, rest patterns, and video work.
By the time the Supporters’ Shield arrived a year later, the shift was obvious. Over 34 league games, the squad bought into a clear model: Busquets setting the tempo, full-backs pushing high, and Messi–Suárez rotations that everyone else read instinctively.
That Supporters’ Shield trophy felt less like a surprise and more like confirmation that the recruitment and tactical plan were aligned. Together, those first two major honours reset the club’s identity. Inter Miami stopped being an ambitious project and started acting like a reference point in MLS. It was a team expecting to chase every trophy, not just compete for one.
Domestic Cups and Leagues
In domestic knockout play, Inter Miami reached the 2023 U.S. Open Cup final but finished as runners-up to Houston Dynamo FC, losing 2-1. The Open Cup path helped sharpen depth and tactics, even without a title that season.
International & Friendly Honours
Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup was a joint tournament between MLS and Liga MX. Winning it qualified the club for the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. The 2025 Club World Cup also brought notable results, including a 2–1 win over Porto in the group stage and a 4–0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16.
They didn’t win a trophy at the Club World Cup, but the Porto result was a statement that they could compete with established European sides. These stages test recruitment and cohesion against global opposition.
Preseason friendlies and invitational cups add experience but do not carry the same weight as the Leagues Cup or Supporters’ Shield. Still, they support the club’s long-term vision and philosophy.
Paths to Victory: How Inter Miami Clinched Each Trophy
Winning the Leagues Cup required resilience in tight knockout games and a long shootout in the final. They came from behind in Dallas in a chaotic 4–4 draw. Then they won on penalties and survived tense late phases against Philadelphia Union, winning 4–1. They also held their nerve in Nashville as Drake Callender saved the decisive spot-kick after a 1–1 draw, winning 10–9 on penalties.
The Supporters’ Shield demanded week-to-week discipline and rotation. Together, they reflect a club balancing short bursts of determination with a season-long plan.
In both runs, Messi’s finishing, Busquets’s control, Alba’s timing, and Callender’s shot-stopping were core. Coaching decisions on formation and workload helped maintain momentum through congested schedules.
Key Matches and Turning Points
A few games shaped the story. The 2023 Leagues Cup final win on penalties at Nashville was the first big turning point. The 2024 3–2 win in Columbus clinched the Shield, with Messi scoring twice, Suárez adding the third, and Callender preserving the result with a late penalty save. The Club World Cup win over Porto showed the team’s resilience and ability to compete with European opposition.
Details at the edges often decided those nights: Campana coming on to protect leads and win fouls, or a late switch to a back five to see out pressure. Those choices reflected ambition and smart tactics under stress.
Players Who Made the Difference
When matches got tight, these were the players who tilted the result Miami’s way.
- Lionel Messi: Stacked up 10 Leagues Cup goals in 7 games and then posted 20 goals plus 16 assists in 19 league matches during the 2024 season.
- Drake Callender: Established himself as Miami’s No. 1 between 2022 and 2024, starting 24 regular-season games in 2022, then posting 7 clean sheets and 123 saves in 33 league matches in 2023. This was followed by a Supporters’ Shield season in 2024 with 5 clean sheets, 104 saves and a career-best 1.41 goals-against average. He also scored a penalty and saved two more in the 2023 Leagues Cup final against Nashville, earning Best Goalkeeper of the tournament and Man of the Match.
- Sergio Busquets: Since arriving in July 2023, Busquets has been a regular in MLS play. In 2024, he made 27 league appearances for Inter Miami, with 1 goal and 7 assists from midfield.
- Jordi Alba: Since arriving in July 2023, Alba has been a high-output creator from left-back. The following year, he led all MLS defenders with 14 assists and was named an MLS All-Star and in the MLS Best XI. Across his Inter Miami MLS career to mid-2025, he’s logged 5 goals and 19 assists in 46 league matches.
- Luis Suárez: Produced 20 goals and 9 assists in 27 MLS regular-season matches in 2024. Through the end of 2025, his Inter Miami MLS totals stood at 30 goals in 55 league appearances.
Match data on platforms like FotMob and coverage from outlets like TalkSport back up just how often these names influenced key moments. Role players and rising talents also mattered, with their determination and teamwork supporting a stable spine across busy calendars.
Coaching, Strategy, and Club Decisions
Head coach Javier Mascherano sets a clear 4-3-3 base that can morph in build-up, pushing Jordi Alba high to form a situational back three and free Messi-Suárez to combine centrally.
For example, in tight games, Miami switch from an early press to a compact mid-block to manage legs and play for moments. It’s a pattern that showed up after the Leagues Cup era and into 2025, especially visible during the Supporters’ Shield campaign and at the Club World Cup.
Sub roles are defined: Campana to protect leads and win fouls late, Cremaschi to lift the press, and Julian Gressel to balance the right with early crosses and switches. Recruitment backed the plan: Messi, Busquets, and Alba arrived mid-2023 to add control and chance creation, Suárez in 2024 for penalty-box finishing, and Gressel in 2024 to round out service from the opposite flank.
Notable Former Players & Their Impact
Here are former Inter Miami players who helped set standards before the recent trophy era:
- Gonzalo Higuaín (2020–2022): Delivered a clutch scoring run in late 2022 that dragged Miami into the playoffs and set higher attacking standards.
- Blaise Matuidi (2020–2021): A 2018 World Cup winner who raised day-to-day standards with disciplined positioning, ball recoveries, and transition coverage, while mentoring younger midfielders on shape and pressing triggers.
- Rodolfo Pizarro (2020–2021, 2023): Scored the club’s first MLS goal and bridged the startup phase with creativity between the lines.
- Lewis Morgan (2020–2021): Was an early team MVP who carried chance creation and goals in 2020, giving the attack a reliable outlet.
- Alejandro Pozuelo (2022): A mid-2022 playmaker whose final-third passes and set-ups unlocked Higuaín’s hot streak.
- DeAndre Yedlin (2022–2024): Provided leadership, recovery pace, and consistent minutes at right back through unstable stretches.
Together, they built habits that matter now: work rate, accountability, and on-field solutions in tight games. Their baseline made it easier for later stars to raise the ceiling without rebuilding the floor.
Star Signings and Contributions
Big arrivals brought legacy and excellence. Messi transformed chance creation and finishing. Busquets controlled the tempo. Alba added overlaps and service. Suárez supplied goals and smart movement.
Their presence raised training standards and game-day execution. Club announcements and MLS reports detail how each signing arrived at key moments in the project.
Those additions also improved spacing and transitions. The team’s structure made it easier for others to contribute. This is where leadership and cohesion show up on tape.
Messi’s Influence & Leadership
Messi’s goals and standards changed the ceiling.
| Competition | Season | Matches | Goals | Assists | Notable moment |
| Leagues Cup | 2023 | 7 | 10 | — | Scored in the final; converted in the shootout. |
| MLS (regular season) | 2024 | 19 | 20 | 16 | Brace in the 3–2 win at Columbus to clinch the Shield. |
He also shifts attention and creates space for teammates. That effect helps the whole side, from build-up to the final third. His presence shaped the club’s strategy and ambition.
Rising Talents and Role Players
Here are the younger pieces and glue guys who kept results steady when the stars rotated:
- Benjamin Cremaschi: Academy product who chipped in goals and assists during the 2023 Leagues Cup run and grew into a high-energy eight.
- David Ruiz: Homegrown ball-winner trusted in big games and recently extended through 2028.
- Tomás Avilés: 2004-born centre back who logged starter minutes and added aerial presence.
- Noah Allen: Left-back depth from the academy who covered Alba’s minutes and kept the shape tidy.
These minutes matter. The group above protected tempo, pressed cleanly, and covered injuries so the game model held up across long stretches. Their growth supports the club’s recruitment and development plan and keeps trophy pushes alive even when the lineup changes.
Challenges & What’s Next: Can More Trophies Come?
Schedule congestion and injuries are the main hurdles. Managing workloads while keeping intensity is the tactical puzzle. Opponents also adapt, so innovation needs to continue.
Another Inter Miami win in major tournaments will need the same consistency that secured the Shield. The margins are small in playoffs and international cups, where one mistake can end a run, as seen after PSG scored the second goal, when Inter Miami tried to play out. Sergio Busquets was dispossessed, Fabián Ruiz squared, and João Neves side-footed into an empty net, which basically ended their 2025 Club World Cup run against PSG.
Still, the club’s vision, leadership, and structure point to more chances at silverware. The mix of strategy and performance makes future finals realistic.
Club Infrastructure & Management Vision
Inter Miami’s build-out is concrete. The Miami Freedom Park project spans 131 acres with a 25,000-seat stadium, 58-acre public park, and mixed-use retail/office space, designed as a long-term revenue engine.
Day to day, the team trains at the Florida Blue Training Centre in Fort Lauderdale. It’s a 50,000-sq-ft high-performance complex with six natural-grass fields plus one turf, adjacent to the club’s stadium, which centralises first team and academy operations.
Squad Depth & Competition Level
Depth wins the Shield and sustains cup runs. Miami’s roster now blends stars with role players who can hold shape and execute the game plan. That balance matters when fixtures stack up.
The league is stronger each year, and knockout draws are rarely easy. Maintaining form while rotating will test coaching and player discipline.
With fit stars and reliable backups, more finals are within reach. Consistency decides how many of those become trophies.
Upcoming Fixtures, Tournaments & Ambitions
Leagues Cup will stay a key target after 2023, but the immediate focus is MLS Cup 2025: Inter Miami host Vancouver Whitecaps at Chase Stadium on Saturday, December 6, 2025 (2:30 pm ET).
Looking ahead, the club’s first MLS game at Miami Freedom Park is scheduled for April 4, 2026, a home opener versus Austin FC, with a full 2026 slate wrapped around the mid-summer World Cup pause.
Supporters’ eyes will also track Inter Miami news regarding ongoing injuries, rotation, and form. Player availability often decides tight knockout ties.
F.A.Q.
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