Although officially founded on January 29, 2018, it was not until 2 years later, on March 1, 2020, that the team of president David Beckham had its first MLS match against Los Angeles FC and suffered a 0-1 defeat. If we count the time of the first match, it is not wrong to say that Inter Miami is not even as old as the COVID-19 pandemic!
Inter Miami’s starting lineup for the first match in the team’s history (Photo: Inter Miami CF)
It took just over 3 years to get the first title
Winning the 2023 CONCACAF Leagues Cup last August marked the first title in Inter Miami’s history. It took the team just 3 years, 5 months and 18 days from its first match to achieve this feat. It was a miraculous achievement for a young team like Inter Miami, and before the Leagues Cup started, Miami was just a team ranked bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference with a poor record. But Messi arrived and completely changed the face of the team, contributing significantly to Miami’s championship campaign.
Inter Miami’s miraculous Leagues Cup title (Photo: Getty Images)
The first non-European club to have a player win the Ballon d’or
Lionel Messi, with his glorious World Cup victory with the Argentina national team, has become the owner of the Golden Ball (Ballon d’Or) in 2023. The Argentine superstar achieved this individual title while playing for Inter Miami. This means that the Southern American team has become the first and only club outside of Europe to have a player who is the owner of the Golden Ball in the team’s nearly 70-year history of the Golden Ball.
Messi contributed to making the name Inter Miami go down in history (Photo: Inter Miami)
Before Messi, Inter Miami also owned these stars.
Before successfully recruiting 2022 world champion Leo Messi, Inter Miami had the services of two outstanding stars in the squad, former Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain and former French midfielder Blaise Matuidi. Of which, Higuain still holds the record as Miami’s top scorer with 29 goals. Inter Miami was the last team of both players before retiring.
Higuain and Matuidi were teammates at Juventus and then Inter Miami (Photo: PRESSE SPORTS)
Once owned a Vietnamese player
The name Lee Nguyen is certainly not unfamiliar to Vietnamese football fans as this player has played for clubs in the V-League and is famous at the New England Revolution. However, few people know that Lee Nguyen also played for a short time in the first phase of Inter Miami. He came off the bench in the team’s first match and only appeared in 5 matches for Beckham’s club.
Lee Nguyen once had a short time playing for Inter Miami (Photo: Inter Miami)
This morning (February 22, Vietnam time), in their early match, Inter Miami had a great start to the new season with a 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake right at Chase Stadium. Although Messi did not directly score, he had an assist and was a key factor contributing to the overall play of the whole team.
Messi and Inter Miami had a smooth debut in MLS (Photo: Inter Miami)