MLS Cup 2025 is set: Inter Miami hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the winner hoists the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy.
Miami thrashed NYCFC 5-1 in the Eastern Conference final, while the Whitecaps beat San Diego FC 3-1 to deny the hosts the chance to become MLS’s second expansion-team-turned-champion (Chicago Fire, 1998). It’s a scintillating matchup and a rematch of a Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal that went decidedly in Vancouver’s way.
The two clubs took vastly different routes to getting here, but they’re the last ones standing as the 2025 season reaches its finale on Saturday (2:30 pm ET; Apple TV, FOX, Fox Deportes) at Chase Stadium. It’ll be Lionel Messi’s Miami against Thomas Müller’s Whitecaps, but this MLS Cup, between clubs that are both making their first final appearance, is about far more than just the two generational players.
Here’s what you need to know about MLS’s title bout:
For Miami, Messi it’s ‘uno mas’
Since Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba arrived in the summer of 2023, Miami has had plenty of success.
Miami won the 2023 Leagues Cup in sensational fashion, with the final merely a month after Messi debuted. The club set a new MLS single-season points record en route to winning the Supporters’ Shield last year, but then came up short for the one trophy they wanted most.
Now, Miami and Messi are one step away.
While ambitious to win every competition they enter, all the talk from Miami’s brass has been focused on winning MLS Cup. Managing owner Jorge Mas told The Athletic last week after beating FC Cincinnati the message was simple: Dos mas.
“Two wins. That’s what I told the team in the locker room: Dos mas,” Mas said. “That’s the goal.”
After Saturday’s demolition, it’s one down, one to go.
Tadeo Allende had a hat trick in Miami’s win over NYCFC, as his form has been instrumental in Miami’s postseason run. He has eight goals in five matches, tying Carlos Ruiz’s single-postseason scoring record (2002).
Prior to the win over NYCFC, Messi had contributed to all 12 of Miami’s playoff goals. He was dangerous against NYCFC, but had “only” one assist across the five goals. The supporting cast stepped up in a big way, and that’s perhaps the biggest takeaway of Miami’s late surge: while Messi is still the straw that stirs the drink, the likes of Allende, Mateo Silvetti and others have more than held their own.
Lionel Messi and Thomas Müller playing against one another in the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League (Josep Lago / AFP / Getty Images)
Messi vs. Müller, round 11
MLS Cup will mark the 11th all-time between Messi and Müller for club and country. Müller has the edge so far, with seven wins to Messi’s three.
The most high-profile match was the 2014 World Cup final, in which Müller’s Germany beat Messi’s Argentina after extra time. Germany also beat Argentina 4-0 in the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals.
At the club level, Müller’s Bayern Munich has had joy over Messi’s Barcelona (and then PSG), including Bayern’s famous 8-2 win over Barcelona in the 2020 Champions League quarterfinals.
Messi and Barcelona did beat Bayern in the 2015 Champions League semifinals en route to winning the final.
Whitecaps ride the wave of a magical season
The Whitecaps are enjoying their MLS best season ever, and they’re looking for one more win to make it downright historic.
The ‘Caps already won the Canadian Championship — a fourth in a row — while getting to the Concacaf Champions Cup final. Along the way, they had their best regular season finish in the club’s MLS history.
What makes it all the more sweet is how out-of-nowhere the season was. Vancouver was a middling team in 2024 and fired their head coach. Ownership put the team up for sale in the winter and new head coach Jesper Sørensen didn’t officially take over until days before preseason. Early in preseason, the Whitecaps lost one of their three Designated Players as Stuart Armstrong departed.
Star man Ryan Gauld picked up an injury early in the season and has mostly missed the entire year. And yet, still, Vancouver has been one of the league’s defining teams with an attack-minded, possession-based playing style under Sørensen.
Müller joining in the summer helped propel them further, with his 10 goal contributions (7g/3a) in 541 regular season minutes. The Whitecaps have lost just one of the club’s 16 games since Müller debuted.
Plenty pegged Miami for success in 2025. Vancouver has been a revelation few saw coming.
Champions Cup rematch
Before Müller joined Vancouver, the Whitecaps impressively eliminated Miami in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals, 5-1 over two legs.
That matchup proved to any remaining doubters that the Whitecaps were legit and also fueled worries about Miami’s season. For both clubs, it was a pivotal time.
Much has changed for both teams since the Whitecaps went into South Florida and beat Miami 3-1 in their second leg.
For Vancouver, midfielder Pedro Vite was transferred to Pumas and center back Ranko Veselinovic has since torn his ACL. Müller arrived, while Ralph Priso has developed into a strong option in central defense as injuries necessitated that opportunity.
Miami, meanwhile, got their season back on track by the summer and made several key changes. Speaking of which…
Mascherano’s big decisions
Ever since Luis Suárez was suspended for Miami’s do-or-die Game 3 against Nashville SC in the opening round (Miami won 4-0 to go through), he has remained out of the starting XI.
Mascherano benched the Uruguayan legend in favor of Silvetti, a rising winger whose play has allowed Messi to play a false nine role. Silvetti (two goals, two assists) and Allende (five goals, one assist) have stepped up in that time with Suarez on the bench.
Beyond the surprising benching, Mascherano has made a number of big decisions since the summer that has helped lead Miami to the final.
Rocco Rios Novo replaced Oscar Ustari in goal, Telasco Segovia made way for Rodrigo De Paul, Ian Fray is the starting right back over Marcelo Weigandt when healthy and Maxi Falcon and Noah Allen are the preferred center back pairing. Each of those moves has helped the club defend much better than previously, which is what ultimately its undoing in 2024.
MLS Cup marks the last dance for Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba together, with the latter two retiring (Megan Briggs / Getty Images)
Busquets and Alba’s last match
Win or lose, the legendary careers of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba will come to an end, as both players previously announced they would retire after the season.
Earlier in the playoff run, head coach Javier Mascherano admitted no one was talking about it out loud.
“It’s clear that we know, I think subconsciously,” Mascherano said on Nov. 9. “Nobody says it. Nobody comments on it. But we know that now that we’ve entered the playoffs, it’s like the flame is beginning to extinguish, no?”
Both players were excellent in Miami’s win over NYCFC. Alba had two assists and Busquets had one, though Busquets didn’t get credit for his long ball that ultimately created Allende’s opening goal.
Alba, 36, came through Barcelona’s La Masia academy, before leaving to sign for Valencia and then rejoining the Catalan club in 2012. He became one of the best left backs in the world, winning six La Liga titles and one Champions League in an 11-year spell with Barcelona, as well as the 2012 European Championship with the Spanish national team.
Busquets, 37, was also a graduate of La Masia. In total he played 722 times for Barca during his 15 years at the Camp Nou, establishing himself as one of the best players in the club’s illustrious history and winning 32 trophies.
Also a pillar for Spain, the former captain announced his retirement from international duty in 2022 having made 143 appearances for his country (the third-highest tally in history for the nation) and having won two major trophies: the 2010 World Cup and the European Championship two years later.
Both players helped revolutionize their respective positions in different ways during their careers. It’s fitting that their last match will be for a trophy.
