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Gianni Infantino confirmed at Chase Stadium that Inter Miami will play in the FIFA Club World Cup next summer, as MARCA had previously reported. Leo Messi's team will do so as a guest as the best team in the MLS regular season, thus occupying the number of teams that FIFA has to invite from the host country of the tournament that will be held next year from June 15 to July 13.
In addition, the FIFA president announced that the first match of the tournament will be precisely in Miami, at the Hard Rock Stadium. The announcement was made official after another remarkable performance by Messi, the main star of Inter Miami's 6-2 win against New England Revolution.
The Argentine appeared on the field in the 57th minute and that gave him plenty of time to score three goals and give an assist. His team was down two goals and the work of Luis Suárez helped level the score. The victory also marks a record for Inter Miami, reaching 74 points, the highest number in an MLS regular season.
Only one team missing
With the confirmation of the participation of Lionel Messi's team, there are already 31 teams qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup. There is only thing left, as there is only one more spot left in the tournament, that will be the champion of the Libertadores Cup.
The final of the CONMEBOL tournament will be played in December and the semifinals have yet to be played. Atletico Mineiro, Peñarol, Botafogo or Olimpia of Paraguay, if River Plate, a semi-finalist, is champion of the Cup, are competing for that place. The 31 that are already in are as follows:
CONCACAF: Monterrey, León y Pachuca (México); Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami (United States).
CONMEBOL: Palmeiras, Flamengo and Fluminense because of previous championships in the last Libertadores Cups, plus Boca Juniors and River Plate because of their all-time points obtained in the rankings.
UEFA: Chelsea (as Champion of the 2021 Champions League), Real Madrid (Champion of the Champions League in their 2022 and 2024 editions) and Manchester City (Champion of the 2023 Champions League). Also participating are Bayern, PSG, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Atlético de Madrid, Benfica, Juventus y Red Bull Salzburgo because of their world rankings.
ASIA: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), Ulsan (South Korea) and Al Ain (2024 Champions of the Champions Cup).
AFRICA: Al-Ahly (Egypt), Wydad (Marroco), Espérance (Tunicia) and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa).
OCEANIA: Auckland City (New Zeland).