Inter Miami CF, who were without arguably the best football player of all time for the fourth time in a row, lost 4-1 to Chicago Fire FC on Wednesday evening in front of over 60,000 fans at Soldier Field.
The loss is devastating for Miami’s very slim playoff hopes. Although Inter Miami is not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, it needs to win and get help along the way… possibly without Lionel Messi, whose day-to-day situation has prevented him from taking part in his team’s last four games, not one of these games a victory.
This stunning result in front of a huge crowd at Soldier Field could be a landmark victory in Chicago Fire’s recent history. With Wednesday night’s win, the Fire are in position to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and just the third time in the last 14 seasons.
The Chicago Fire are catapulted into eighth place in the Eastern Conference and, if the season ended today, would host CF Montréal in a wild-card playoff game. Inter Miami, meanwhile, falls to 14th place, behind fellow playoff contenders New York City FC, DC United, New York Red Bulls and Charlotte FC. Miami is five points out of the ninth and final playoff spot and has just three games left.
While Lionel Messi’s playing status remains uncertain, Inter Miami must shake off a humiliating loss to Chicago Fire FC before hosting FC Cincinnati on Saturday. FC Cincinnati lost 2-1 to the New York Red Bulls before being awarded the Supporters’ Shield. The Supporters’ Shield is presented to the team that scores the most points in the MLS regular season. It represents the first trophy won by FC Cincinnati in its MLS history.
Inter Miami’s playoff hopes are dashed during a dominant second-half performance from Chicago.
Xherdan Shaqiri scored his second goal of the game in the 73rd minute they took an almost unassailable lead.
If the result stands, it would be huge for Chicago and a devastating blow to Miami’s postseason ambitions. Inter Miami will technically emerge alive in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, but will need to win and get help on the way to qualification. Chicago, meanwhile, could be in prime position to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 season.
Frank Klopas, interim coach of the Chicago Fire, brought Maren Haile-Selassie into the game with a stroke of genius.
Just four minutes after Chicago took the lead, Haile-Selassie buried another goal as the Fire built a two-goal lead in a game both teams desperately needed to win.
Haile-Selassie moved to Chicago Fire on loan from Swiss club FC Lugano on December 27, 2022. The 24-year-old midfielder had previously scored four goals in 29 games this season.
A change by interim coach Frank Klopas in the 55th minute paid off enormously a few minutes later.
Maren Haile-Selassie, who came on for Brian Gutiérrez, brought Chicago to the top after Miami missed its chances to advance.
I hope the 60,000+ fans stayed at Soldier Field after a lackluster first half because the game really picked up momentum in the second half.
After back-to-back goals, Inter Miami missed two great opportunities to take the lead. First, Facundo Farías missed a shot from the center of the penalty area to the left in the 58th minute. A minute later, Benjamin Cremaschi narrowly missed his chance on goal.
The Chicago Fire’s lead didn’t last long.
In the 52nd minute, Benjamin Cremaschi’s shot on goal was blocked, but Chicago’s Jonathan Dean was called for a handball in the penalty area. Josef Martínez converted the penalty to level the score at 1-1.
Swiss soccer icon Xherdan Shaqiri may have scored his most important goal to date during his tenure with Chicago Fire. In the 49th minute he missed a chance.
A wide-open Shaqiri seemingly collected a slow ground ball through the 18-yard box off the foot of his teammate Fabian Herbers.
The near-capacity crowd at Soldier Field witnessed a bizarre situation when Inter Miami coach Tata Martino received a yellow card after his team emerged late from the locker room after halftime.
Inter Miami and Chicago Fire are among the six teams vying for the final two available Eastern Conference playoff spots.
Two of these teams have already won. Charlotte FC defeated Wooden Spoon contender Toronto FC 3-0. The New York Red Bulls – who currently have the longest active playoff streak among major US professional sports leagues at 13 seasons – faced a possible elimination scenario on Wednesday, but remain mathematically in the fold after a 2-1 win over FC Cincinnati Playoff pursuit involved. CF Montréal scored a stoppage-time goal from Lassi Lappalainen to secure a point against Houston Dynamo FC.
DC United was down 2-0 at halftime against Austin FC.
In a near-win game for both teams in front of a nearly sold-out stadium at Soldier Field, no goals were scored in the first half.
While Inter Miami had the majority of possession, the Chicago Fire had the better chances to score.
Sergio Busquets received the first yellow card of the game after a foul on Chicago’s 20-year-old prodigy Brian Gutiérrez.
Three minutes later, Xherdan Shaqiri’s shot attempt from outside the 18-yard penalty area flew wide to the right of the goal and didn’t quite challenge Miami goalkeeper Drake Callender.
Brendan Hunt, better known as Coach Beard from the hit series “Ted Lasso”, attends the Inter Miami-Chicago Fire game at Soldier Field.
He also attended the Chicago Bears’ game against the Denver Broncos at Soldier Field on Sunday.
The Bears blew a 21-point lead in the second half, lost the game 31-28 and fell to 0-4. If the NFL season ends now (which, thankfully, it doesn’t), the Bears would own the top two picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The action is heating up at Soldier Field, a must-win game for both teams.
Inter Miami ensured that Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady deftly parried Noah Allen’s shot attempt.
A Chicago counterattack was immediately repelled and Miami retained the possession it enjoyed for much of the first half.
The first corner kick of the game led to nervous moments in front of goal as the Fire almost scored their first goal of the game in the 15th minute.
Fabian Herbers’ close-range attempt was blocked, leading to a second corner, a chance Chicago missed.
The Inter Miami vs. Chicago Fire FC game at 8:30 p.m. ET is available on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
As expected, Lionel Messi is neither in the starting line-up nor is he available as a substitute. This is the sixth Inter Miami game that Messi has missed.
Here is Inter Miami’s starting XI:
Jordi Alba, Messi’s former teammate from FC Barcelona, is also unavailable.
Inter Miami has collected more points in the two away games in which Messi has played (6) than in 13 away games without him (5).
Here is the starting XI for Chicago Fire FC:
Xherdan Shaqiri represented Switzerland at the 2022 World Cup. Kei Kamara, the team’s top scorer with five goals, starts the game on the bench.
Chicago enters Wednesday night’s game having won three of its five previous meetings against Miami.
Lionel Messi attended Inter Miami’s training session on Tuesday before the team traveled to Chicago for Wednesday night’s game. After training, Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino reiterated Messi’s day-to-day playing status.
“If it didn’t happen, you’d say, ‘Well, today I look like the biggest ticket seller in MLS. It could have something to do with ticket sales’. But no, we’re worried about it.” Player,” Martino said. “I make a very serious mistake when I say something hastily. That’s why I avoid exact times. I understand your desire to know the exact times, but if I If I had the exact times, I would say so, but I don’t have them either.”
He has missed five Inter Miami games following their statement win against reigning league champions Los Angeles FC on September 3 in Los Angeles, in which Lionel Messi played the entire game.
After playing (and scoring the winning goal) in Argentina’s 2026 World Cup qualifier against Ecuador on September 7, Messi sat out Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Bolivia on September 12. Meanwhile, he missed Inter Miami’s 3-2 win over Sporting Kansas City on September 9.
Messi returned to Miami after the FIFA international break but did not dress in his team’s 5-2 loss to Atlanta United on September 16. On September 20, he briefly played in the 4–0 win against Toronto FC, but missed the game, leaving the first half due to fatigue and has not played since.
The Chicago Fire appeared to be aware that it could be a disappointing evening for many of those in attendance at Soldier Field’s game against Inter Miami, as some of those fans had paid far more than face value for the chance to catch a glimpse of Lionel Messi in action.
With Messi’s playing status in doubt, Chicago Fire announced they would offer all fans in the audience a season ticket credit for next season or a future game.
The Chicago Fire entered the MLS as an expansion team in 1998 and won the MLS Cup (as well as the US Open Cup) under coach Bob Bradley.
The Chicago Fire are the only major U.S. men’s professional sports franchise to win its championship in its first season. (To be fair, MLS only had 12 teams at the time. More recently, the Vegas Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final as an expansion team in the 2017–18 NHL season.)
The Chicago Fire reached the MLS Cup three times in their first six seasons (losing to the Kansas City Wizards in 2000 and the San Jose Earthquakes in 2003). Since 2010, however, the Chicago Fire have been traveling in a real combat bus. The team has qualified for the MLS playoffs just twice in the last 13 seasons. Should the Chicago Fire manage to eke out a win over Inter Miami on Wednesday night, they would reach the 40-point mark for the third time in the last 10 seasons. Yikes!
Both Inter Miami and the Los Angeles Galaxy set an MLS single-season team record with 18 different players scoring a goal over the course of the 2023 regular season. Anyone could set a new record on Wednesday evening.
Inter Miami’s top scorers coming into Wednesday’s game are Leonardo Campana (9 goals), Josef Martinez (6), Robert Taylor (4), Facundo Farías (3), Benjamin Cremaschi (2), David Ruíz (2) , Jordi Alba (1), Noah Allen (1), Dixon Arroyo (1), Tomás Avilés (1), Shanyder Borgelin (1), Ian Fray (1), Diego Gómez (1), Corentin Jean (1), Sergii Kryvstov (1) , Lionel Messi (1), Franco Negri (1) and Nicolas Stefanelli (1).
The three key players to keep an eye on to score their first Inter Miami goal of the season and put the Herons in the record books include Sergio Busquets, Kamal Miller, DeAndre Yedlin and Jean Mota. Busquets, Miller and Yedlin are in the starting lineup, while Mota is available as a substitute.
As Messi struggles with a lingering leg injury, Inter Miami’s postseason hopes hang in the balance. Luckily for Miami, there are a number of mediocre clubs vying for the last two available Eastern Conference playoff spots. Six teams are within five points of the last two remaining playoff spots in the conference.
Inter Miami starts the 36th MLS matchday on Wednesday and is in 13th place in the 15-team conference with 33 points from 30 games played. New York City FC (38 points) and CF Montréal (37 points) currently occupy the final two playoff spots (eighth and ninth, respectively) in the standings. Also ahead of Inter Miami in the table are DC United (37 points), Chicago Fire FC (37 points) and the New York Red Bulls (34 points). Each of these teams has played at least one more game than Miami, improving the Herons’ postseason chances.
The remaining Inter Miami games and the rest of the MLS can be watched on Apple TV via the MLS Season Pass.
MLS playoff image
These would be the MLS playoff games through the first round if the season ended before Wednesday night’s games…
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlanta United, FC Cincinnati, Columbus Crew, Orlando City, Nashville SC, New England Revolution and Philadelphia Union have secured playoff spots. FC Cincinnati has secured the Supporters’ Shield.
Wildcard Match:
- New York City FC (No. 8 seed) vs. CF Montreal (9)
Round 1 (Best-of-Three Series)
- FC Cincinnati (1) vs. New York City FC (8) – CF Montréal (9) winner
- Orlando City SC (2) vs. Nashville SC (7)
- New England Revolution (3) vs. Atlanta United (6)
- Philadelphia Union (4) vs. Columbus Crew (5)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
St. Louis City SC has secured a playoff spot and the No. 1 seed in the conference.
Wildcard match
- San Jose Earthquakes (No. 8 seed) vs. FC Dallas (9)
Round 1 (Best-of-Three Series)
- St. Louis City SC (1) vs. San Jose Earthquakes (8) – FC Dallas (9) winner
- Real Salt Lake (2) vs. Portland Timbers (7)
- Seattle Sounders (3) vs Vancouver Whitecaps FC (6)
- Los Angeles FC (4) vs. Houston Dynamo FC (5)
A total of 18 teams qualify for the MLS playoffs – the top nine teams in each conference.
The eighth and ninth teams from each conference play in wild card games. The top seven finishers qualify for the best-of-three series in the first round.
Here is the playoff schedule:
- 25-26 Oct.: Wildcard games (single elimination games)
- Oct 28 – Nov 12: Round 1 (Best-of-Three Series)
- Nov 25 – Dec 3: Conference semifinals and finals (single-elimination games)
- Dec 9: MLS Cup (single winner-only game)
These are the matches for the 36th matchday of the MLS:
- Charlotte FC vs. Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
- FC Cincinnati vs. New York Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m. ET
- CF Montreal vs. Houston Dynamo FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
- New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Philadelphia Union vs. Atlanta United FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Austin FC vs. DC United, 8:30 p.m. ET
- Chicago Fire FC vs. Inter Miami CF, 8:30 p.m. ET
- FC Dallas vs. Colorado Rapids, 8:30 p.m. ET
- Nashville SC vs. Orlando City SC, 8:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
- Los Angeles FC vs. Minnesota United FC, 10:30 p.m. ET (FS1)
- Seattle Sounders FC vs. Los Angeles Galaxy, 10:30 p.m. ET
- Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. St. Louis City SC, 10:30 p.m. ET
All games are available in the MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
In news that will shock absolutely no one: Lionel Messi has the best-selling jersey in MLS, the league announced last week.
There are the 25 best-selling player jerseys on MLSstore.com:
15 different teams and 13 different nationalities are represented on the lists of the 25 best-selling jerseys:
- Argentina (Thiago Almada, Enzo Copetti, Sebastián Driussi, Lionel Messi)
- Brazil (Joao Klauss)
- Colombia (Diego Chara)
- Gabon (Dénis Bouanga)
- Germany (Eduard Löwen, Hany Mukhtar)
- Hungary (Dániel Gazdag)
- Mexico (Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, Carlos Vela)
- Peru (Raul Ruidíaz)
- Poland (Karol Swiderski)
- Spain (Sergio Busquets, Carles Gil, Riqui Puig)
- Switzerland (Xherdan Shaqiri)
- United States (Jordan Morris, Tim Parker, Cristian Roldan, John Tolkin, Brandon Vazquez, Walker Zimmerman)
- Venezuela (Josef Martinez)
The first three episodes of “Messi Meets America” will air worldwide on Apple TV+ on October 11th. A short film because the documentary was released on Monday.
The documentary “depicts Leo’s immersion in America, the remarkable journey and transformation of Inter Miami CF and, most importantly, the impact he is currently having on soccer in North America,” according to a press release.
Parts of the documentary are still being filmed as Messi’s first season at Inter Miami comes to an end.
Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham also has a documentary released on Netflix on Wednesday.
The project, titled Beckham, is a four-part documentary about the legendary soccer star, chronicling Becks’ triumphs and tribulations on the field. Beckham played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and the Los Angeles Galaxy. The documentary also delves into Beckham’s trendsetting fashion and dynamic romance with pop icon Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham.
After retiring from football, Beckham continued his involvement in the sport by bringing an MLS franchise to Miami, where he managed to lure Lionel Messi to Inter Miami.