Messi disappointed at the start: Al-Nahry and Miami separate 0-0

Messi disappointed at the start: Al-Nahry and Miami separate 0-0

Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, USA - On June 15, 2025, the opening game of the FIFA Club World Championship 2025 took place in the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. In an exciting, but goalless duel, Al-Nahry and Inter Miami separated 0-0. The stadium, which holds 65,000 spectators, was well filled with 60,927 fans, which meant a capacity utilization of 93 %. The tournament, which is held in a new, expanded format, began with slight delays after a controversial opening ceremony.

In the first half, Al-Nahry showed a dominant performance. The goalkeeper of Inter Miami, Oscar Ustari, kept his team from a deficit several times. Special mention was made by his held foul elf from Trezeguet shortly before the break. Miami's trainer, Javier Mascherano, praised Ustari and said, "he kept us alive". Messi, who found less into the game in the first half, also became more active after the change of sides. So he tried to meet himself in the 57th minute and prepared an opportunity for Marcelo Weigandt in the 60th minute.

Messi's efforts and the course of the game

Lionel Messi gave up a total of six shots on the goal during the game. However, his free kick in the 64th minute just passed the outer network. Fafa Picault had the opportunity to decide the game in the 85th minute, but failed with a header on Al-Aholy's goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy. In added time, Messi came to one final opportunity that his Schlenzer could steer over the crossbar. The goalless result reduced the chances of promotion by both teams in the group phase.

in Group A, which also includes FC Porto and Palmeiras, the next encounters for this Saturday are scheduled. Porto and Palmeiras meet at midnight CEST, while Bayern Munich plays CEST against Auckland City at 6:00 p.m. Paris Saint-Germain meets Atlético Madrid at 9:00 p.m. MESZ. Red Bull Salzburg will play MESZ against Pachuca from Mexico on June 18 at midnight.

The FIFA World Cup at a glance

The FIFA Club World Championship 2025, the 21st edition of the tournament, will take place in the USA from June 14 to July 13. With a total of 32 teams from six continents, the tournament is organized in the new format, in which the best two teams from each of the eight groups move into the knockout round. A central concern is to imitate the competitive framework of the FIFA World Championships from 1998 to 2022.

The participating teams were qualified based on their performance in the continental competitions from 2021 to 2024. World rankings were distributed to the following continents:

The tournament offers a total prize money of one billion dollars, whereby the winner can receive up to $ 125 million. The transfer rights were sold for 1 billion euros to DAZN so that all games can be streamed free of charge.

For more information about the FIFA Club World Championship and on the game results, please visit the pages of New York Times and wikipedia .