Why are Inter Miami at the Club World Cup? Lionel Messi kicks off tournament Saturday vs. Al-Ahly

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Of the many, many contentions around the Club World Cup, few have quite matched the qualification process for one team in particular. Joining a field of continental champions and some of the best performing teams from around the planet is a side who have never won their domestic league nor a top-level international trophy in their brief history.

Since being founded in January 2018, Inter Miami have won a Leagues Cup and a singular MLS Supporters' Shield, the prize handed to the team with the best regular season record prior to the playoffs. It is for that reason that FIFA decided that the Herons should join the field for the 2025 Club World Cup. That reason alone. Absolutely. Certainly it wouldn't be anything to do with the fact they happen to employ one of the most marketable and talented figures in the history of football: Lionel Messi.

The stardust doesn't end there. David Beckham is a co-owner and you can hardly turn anywhere at Chase Stadium without running into a member of the Barcelona side that won the treble in 2015: Javier Mascherano coaching former team mates Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. This was a team that won a lot of games in the 2024 MLS season, at least until the individual games really, really mattered and they ran into Brad Guzan and the rest of an inspired Atlanta United. The favorites to lift the MLS Cup, Inter Miami crashed out in round one of the playoffs. LA Galaxy would go on to be crowned champions of America.

It is, of course, not entirely out of the ordinary for the hosts of the Club World Cup to be afforded a spot in this competition. In 2023 it was Al-Ittihad who took part, the league champions representing host nation Saudi Arabia. Less than two years later the USA will have three clubs at the competition: Seattle Sounders as 2022 CONCACAF Champions League champions, beaten finalists from 2023 Los Angeles FC and Inter Miami, dumped out in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.

By then, however, they knew they would be playing at the Club World Cup. "You have shown that in the United States, you are consistently the best club on the field of play," Fifa president Gianni Infantino said at the time. "Therefore, I am proud to announce that as one of the best clubs in the world, you are deserved participants in the new Fifa Club World Cup 2025."

FIFA announced that the Supporters Shield winner would represent the host nation after the end of the regular season but before the playoffs, reasoning that they wished for the representative to come from league play and not knockout football. Every other one of the 32 qualified on the basis of their achievements in knockout competitions.

Did you know that you can watch the entire 2025 FIFA Club World Cup live on DAZN (for free)?

How the rest got to the Club World Cup

For half of the field, their passage to the Club World Cup was fairly orthodox. They won their respective continental competitions between 2021 and 2024 so they get to move up to the global stage. Only one such team is missing with FIFA concluding that 2023 CONCACAF Champions League winners Club Leon would not be able to play in the same competition as Pachuca, with whom they share owners. A play off match between LA FC and Club America, the best performing North American side between 2021 and 2024 who had not won the competition, saw the former emerge victorious.

Only one federation is not guaranteed the chance to send all its champions. One spot is reserved for Oceania, set aside for its best performing Champions League winner. In each of the last three years that has been been Auckland City so that is at least straightforward.

The rest of the field is made up of the best performing non-champions from each federation. Asia has sent one such side while Africa, where Al-Ahly has won three of the last four CAF Champions Leagues, has added two in Esperance de Tunis and Mamelodi Sundowns.

In Europe and South America the picture is more complicated. In March 2023 the FIFA Council agreed that each nation would be limited to two representatives at the Club World Cup unless each team were champions of their respective confederation. Brazilian sides have won each of the last four Copa Libertadores and so despite Atletico Mineiro reaching a final and semifinal since 2021 they missed out in favor of Argentina's River Plate and Boca Juniors.

In England, meanwhile, Liverpool were locked out when Manchester City joined Chelsea as Champions League winners and they failed to qualify for the 2023-24 tournament. Barcelona too accrued more ranking points than the likes of Benfica and Juventus but not than 2024 champions Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

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