Messi, Inter Miami drop first leg of Champions Cup semifinal 2-0 at Vancouver (2025)

Last year, soccer fans in Vancouver were heartbroken when Lionel Messi was a no-show and Inter Miami wound up winning its road game against the Whitecaps.

On Thursday night, a record crowd of 53,837 left BC Place in a much happier mood.

The Argentine icon traveled this time and played 90-plus minutes in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals, but the Whitecaps shut him and his high-profile teammates down and won 2-0 to take a commanding lead in the two-game series.

Inter Miami will need a miraculous performance in the second leg at home next Wednesday to dig out of the hole. The tiebreaker in the aggregate scored series is away goals, and Miami left Vancouver scoreless, so it will need to score at least two goals and concede none at Chase Stadium to force extra time and have shot at the finals.

“Not too much to say, they were better than us and deserved to win,” said a dejected Miami coach Javier Mascherano. “We will try to analyze what happened and try to change and try to come back. It’s difficult, but not impossible. One more game to play, we will try to come back, score goals, and win the game in Miami. We will have our fans behind us, so we can do it.”

The average listed price for Thursday’s game jumped 92 percent, from $99 to $190, after it was confirmed that Messi would be available to play, according to data from Vivid Seats ticket marketplace. Canadian fans lined the stadium gates to welcome Messi to Inter Miami’s training session on the eve of the game, and gave him a warm pre-game welcome.

But once the game got going, the fans’ allegiance turned to the Whitecaps.

The home crowd saw its team take a 1-0 halftime lead on a header by Brian White at the 24-minute mark. Mascherano stressed in the leadup to the game how important it was to score as many goals as possible in the opening leg of the series, and Miami maintained possession 71 percent of the first half, but Vancouver was the more dangerous team early and came close to scoring in the opening minutes.

The Whitecaps took three shots on goal in the first half and Miami took one.

Sebastian Berhalter, the son of former U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter, scored the dagger in the 85th minute to seal the win for Vancouver.

Despite Miami being near the top of the Eastern Conference, and having Messi and Luis Suarez leading the attack, the team has had trouble scoring of late. In the past three league games, Miami won 1-0 against Columbus, tied Chicago 0-0 and tied Toronto 1-1. In Champions League play, Miami was shut out 1-0 by LAFC in the first leg of the quarterfinal. The only game Inter Miami was prolific was the 3-1 comeback win against LAFC in the deciding leg of the quarters.

“The first 15 or 20 minutes we had possession and controlled the game, but we didn’t create any clear chances, but they started to create chances running behind the defense and it was difficult for us,” Mascherano said. “In the second half we pressed higher, we knew we had to take some risks, and that means sometimes you have to play man to man, but our defense was much better in the second half. But we lost the ball on that second goal, they played counterattack and it was difficult to stop them.”

Joining Messi in the Miami Starting XI were goalkeeper Oscar Ustari, defender Noah Allen, defender Maxi Falcon, right back Marcelo Weigandt, left back Jordi Alba, midfielder Sergio Busquets, midfielder Fede Redondo, midfielder Telasco Segovia, winger Tadeo Allende, and forward Luis Suarez.

The Inter Miami bench included Drake Callender, Gonzalo Lujan, Tomas Aviles, Fafa Picault, David Martinez, Ian Fray, Leo Afonso, Allen Obando, Benja Cremaschi, Yannick Bright and Santi Morales. Bright and Cremaschi came into the game late in the second half.

Last May, Messi, Suarez, and Busquets rested during a crowded section of the schedule and did not travel for the game at BC Place, drawing the ire of the 51,000 fans who had purchased tickets. The crowd booed every time Miami players touched the ball early in that match, which Inter Miami wound up winning 2-1 on goals by Robert Taylor and Leo Campana.

Neither of those two players is with the team this time around. Campana left for the New England Revolution and Taylor was traded to Austin FC on Wednesday.

That was just a mid-season league game.

This time, the stakes were much higher. A spot in the Champions Cup final was on the line and Miami was facing a Vancouver team that has been the biggest surprise of the season and leads the Supporters’ Shield race with the league’s best record.

Miami leads MLS with 2.25 points per game and Vancouver is just behind at 2.22. It was a battle between the best team in the East and the best team in the West.

The Whitecaps boast a 6-1-2 league record, rank second in MLS with 17 goals scored and are tied for fewest allowed (six) despite injuries to two of their key players, Ryan Gauld and Sam Adekugbe.

Perhaps most impressive, Vancouver reached the Champions Cup semifinals by knocking off Mexican league powers Monterrey and Pumas. Inter Miami lost to Monterrey in the quarterfinals last year.

In both their series against Pumas and Monterrey, the Whitecaps tied the first leg at home, then scored in extra time to tie the second leg and advance on away goals.

Vancouver’s starting lineup Thursday included Yohei Takaoka, captain Ranko Veselinovic, Daniel Rios, Sebastian Berhalter, Edier Ocampo, Andres Cubas, Ali Ahmed, Brian White, Tate Johnson, Tristan Blackmon, and Pedro Vite.

Miami, which has played one fewer game, is the only remaining unbeaten team in the league and sits third in the East and fourth overall with a 5-0-3 record.

“After a loss like this, the first responsibility is with me,” Mascherano said. “But I still believe in this team and we are going to find a way to play a good game in Miami and try to come back. We have nothing to lose.”

This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 10:22 PM.