Sergio Busquets was right: Inter Miami are not at the level to compete at the Club World Cup - despite Lionel Messi still defying Father Time

FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants the new version of the Club World Cup, which will be held every four years, to be "the pinnacle of elite professional men’s club football", and the opening ceremony certainly fit that brief. The 60,927 fans packed into the Hard Rock Stadium - home of NFL team the Miami Dolphins, not Inter Miami - were treated to fireworks, dancers, pyrotechnics and musical performances from rappers French Montana and Swae Lee, before the stadium announcers introduced the players from each team onto the pitch one by one.

No prizes for guessing who came out last: The biggest reaction from the crowd, of course, came when Messi walked out to conclude the ceremony. The Hard Rock wasn't quite at full capacity, but no expense was spared, and by all accounts, there was electricity in the air.

For the most part, the action on the pitch measured up, too, even if it took a while for Miami to wake up. Al Ahly dominated the first half, forcing four crucial saves out of Ustari, including one to push away a powerfully struck penalty from Trezeguet, which left Mascherano with a galvanising job in the dressing room at the half-time break.

Whatever the Argentine coach said, it worked. Miami were far more aggressive in the second half, and Messi began to take control of proceedings. The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner saw a long-range free kick brush the post on its way into the side-netting, and came agonisingly close to grabbing the winner right at the death, only to see his lovely curling effort from the far corner of the box tipped onto the bar by Al Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed Elshenawy.

It was a pulsating contest despite the lack of goals, but without Messi, Miami would have carried almost no threat in the final third.

Miami are far too reliant on Messi, and anyone who has watched them play in MLS during the first part of the 2025 season would attest to that. But rather worryingly, Mascherano doesn't see that as an issue.

"It's admirable how much love Messi has for the game," the Argentine said after the final whistle at the Hard Rock. "After all the matches he's played, he's still here, giving his all. Of course, we wanted to win, but I'm happy with the team's performance today. Clearly, when we find Leo in positions and get the ball to him in the best way, that's where we have the most options."

So the game plan is to feed Messi and hope for the best? That might deliver enough points for Miami to reach the MLS playoffs again, but it won't get them through to the next stage of the Club World Cup.

That's not to say that Messi can no longer deliver the goods at the very highest level. His playmaking abilities were as mesmerising as ever against Al Ahly, and he was similarly brilliant in Argentina's World Cup qualifying draw against Colombia last week. The problem is that Miami don't have a strong enough support structure for Messi. There are no clear patterns of play when they go forward, and defensively, they're all over the place.

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Much has been made of the amount of time Messi spends walking around the pitch these days, but he still has the capacity to change a game with one swish of his wand-like left foot. Suarez and Busquets, however, are having a much harder time since moving into their late thirties.

Neither player has lost their competitive edge, but their legs are failing them. Suarez doesn't have the explosive turn of pace to beat his marker or get on the end of crosses anymore, and now drops deeper to try and affect proceedings, usually with mixed results. Sometimes he resembles a headless chicken in this disjointed Miami side.

Busquets, meanwhile, no longer has the mobility that made him the best holding midfielder in the sport. Miami can't rely on him to burst through the lines like Barca did, and he's too slow to get back into position when the ball is turned over.

Alba is also dealing with physical decline, having been ruled out of the Al Ahly draw due to a hamstring issue. He is not expected to play for Miami at the Club World Cup unless they reach the latter stages, which won't happen unless Mascherano comes up with a solid plan against Porto and Palmeiras.

At the moment, as Al Ahly head coach Jose Riveiro remarked before the Group A opener, Miami are just "a team with big names".

Mascherano has at least recognised Miami's most pressing issue: how vulnerable they are to counter-attacks. “We have to improve in transitions,” he said in a half-time interview with DAZN on Saturday. “We are losing the ball and sometimes we are not well organised to stop the transition. They are very dangerous. We knew that, so we have to be much better in that phase.”

Miami were committing too many men forward when in possession. Telasco Secovia and Tadeo Allande pushed infield to link with Suarez and Messi, while full-backs Noah Allen and Ian Fray moved further up to provide width, leaving Busquets and his midfield partner Federico Redondo exposed.

This also goes back to everything needing to go through Messi. The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner often drops around the halfway line to receive the ball, before turning and looking for a killer pass to the five players ahead of him. Messi does not, however, do any defensive work, so when a move breaks down, Miami often find themselves outnumbered. Porto have far more pace and quality in their ranks than Al Ahly, and thus Miami could be on the end of an embarrassing scoreline on Thursday if Mascherano doesn't find a solution.

In Mascherano's defence, Miami are lacking depth in several key areas, and he was not given any extra resources to build a competitive side for this tournament. FIFA gave all participating sides the chance to strengthen before kick-off in the U.S. by creating a short-term transfer window, and many of them exploited it, including Real Madrid, who fast-tracked their move for Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Manchester City, who signed Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Marcus Bettinelli.

Miami have had a very inconsistent start to their 2025 MLS campaign, winning only eight of their opening 16 games, with the lowest point coming in the form of a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Minnesota. They are down in sixth in the Eastern Conference as a result, and really could have used some reinforcements for the Club World Cup.

Even a couple of short-term loan deals could have made a big difference. Mascherano's pleas were ignored, though, as he all but confirmed in his first press conference ahead of the tournament: “I would’ve liked to have new signings, clearly, especially considering this competition. We’re possibly in the most important tournament in this club’s history. It’s a club with little history, but this is the most important tournament they’ve been in. I can only concern myself with what I can control and what I myself can do. Eventually, every person will have to accept their own responsibilities, and each person will have to own what corresponds to them.”

The former Liverpool midfielder had every right to be angry with Miami co-owner Sir David Beckham and the rest of the board. This is the biggest moment in the club's short history, and the planning for it should have been far more extensive.

There was always a strong possibility that FIFA's decision to hand Miami a "special invite" to the Club World Cup would backfire. Yes, they won the Supporters' Shield in 2024 for the best regular-season record, but a subsequent MLS Cup playoff first-round defeat to Atlanta United soured that achievement.

Miami were not the best team in MLS last year, and they've arguably gone backwards since Mascherano replaced Gerardo Martino at the helm. Their inclusion has put Messi back in the public eye outside of America, which is a good thing for football, but it will be a disaster for FIFA if Miami fall at the first hurdle and their poster boy is eliminated.

There is, though, a small glimmer of hope for Miami. Because Porto and Palmeiras also played out a 0-0 stalemate on matchday one, an upset win against the Portuguese giants would put Messi and Co. in a great position to reach the last 16.

Despite the odds being stacked against his team, Mascherano still believes. "With this level of play, we can beat anyone," he added on Miami's second-half display against Al Ahly. Anything is possible with Messi, that much is true. But if Porto successfully lock him down, it could be a very long afternoon for Miami at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.