Inter Miami faced off against Toronto FC on Saturday, attracting a record-breaking crowd of 44,828 fans at BMO Field. The match saw Lionel Messi, Rodrigo De Paul, and Luis Suárez leading the way to a 4-2 victory, with two of the team’s three designated players finding the back of the net.
On this occasion, Messi notched his 100th goal contribution in MLS, achieving this in just 64 regular-season matches, making him the fastest player to reach this milestone. He surpassed the previous record held by former Toronto star Sebastian Giovinco, who accomplished the feat in 95 games.
While Miami emerged victorious, the match was closer than the score indicated, highlighting Toronto’s persistent five-year playoff drought as a cautionary tale for the Herons.
Back in 2017, three years prior to Inter Miami’s competitive debut, Toronto was at the peak of Major League Soccer success. Under former general manager Tim Bezbatchenko, the team signed high-profile players Giovinco, Michael Bradley, and Jozy Altidore to designated player contracts worth $18.44 million annually. Giovinco, a former Juventus standout and Italy international, was the second-highest-paid player in the league, earning $7,115,555.67. Toronto boasted the highest payroll in the league that season, totaling $22.478 million—more than $4 million ahead of the second-place team.
This investment paid off handsomely.
The trio of designated players collectively scored 31 goals and provided 18 assists, while the remainder of the squad played a part in allowing the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference. Toronto ultimately clinched the MLS Cup, the Supporters’ Shield, and set a league record for points within a single season.
However, that was the zenith for TFC. As Giovinco, Bradley, and Altidore aged, the team’s performance deteriorated.
In 2022, in an attempt to rekindle the team’s former glory, ownership invested in another round of renowned designated players, adding the Italian pair Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. Insigne’s deal placed him as the second-highest-paid player in MLS, with a salary of $15.4 million, while Bernardeschi ranked fifth, earning $6.295 million.
Unfortunately, the anticipated success did not materialize.
By the conclusion of the 2023 season, Toronto was relegated to last place in the Eastern Conference, accumulating just 22 points from 34 matches and finishing with a negative goal differential of 33. The team conceded the most goals in the conference—59.
At this point, the issue was not the expenditure but rather how the investments were allocated. The strategy of relying on two star players to carry a poorly constructed roster proved to be a massive miscalculation.
Since Giovinco’s departure in 2019, the club has undergone six coaching changes and has averaged an 11th-place finish in the Eastern Conference. Insigne and Bernardeschi managed a combined total of 45 goals over a near three-season span before both players mutually agreed to terminate their contracts.
The current situation remains challenging. After a reported transfer fee of $22 million for U.S. men’s national team striker Josh Sargent, which could rise to $27 million with incentives, Toronto is currently eighth in the Eastern Conference and was eliminated from the Canadian Championship in the preliminary round.
The fall from grace has been swift for the once-great side, overshadowed by the rise of Inter Miami, Saturday’s victors.
The Herons have taken a bold approach, making significant investments to assemble one of the league’s top rosters in 2023. Co-owner Jorge Mas brought Messi, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba to the squad, with Suárez joining in 2024 and De Paul in 2025.
Since Messi’s arrival, Miami has led the league in spending each year, with Messi being the highest-paid player in MLS.
This investment has clearly paid dividends. Inter Miami captured the Supporters’ Shield and set a new single-season points record in 2024, subsequently winning the MLS Cup in 2025.
However, as with all things, time is relentless. Players will eventually move on.
Busquets and Alba retired last offseason, leaving a considerable gap in the team’s leadership and experience. Although the Herons have secured forward Germán Berterame on a designated player contract, signed the 2025 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair in free agency, and added some seasoned players to bolster their defense, the shortcomings of their unbalanced roster have started to become apparent.
While Miami secured a win on Saturday, they continue to struggle in midfield and defense. Toronto outperformed them in the first half in expected goals (0.50-0.49), chances created (5-2), and shots taken (7-5). Additionally, Inter conceded two goals in the last 15 minutes of the match.
These errors have been a recurring issue for the Herons in 2026. They entered Saturday’s match coming off a 4-3 defeat to in-state rivals Orlando City, having squandered a 3-0 lead within the first 35 minutes.
Inter Miami has netted 26 goals across 12 games this season while conceding 21, placing them just 10th in the 15-team Eastern Conference.
Remarkably, the Herons have yet to secure a single victory at Nu Stadium, with three draws and one loss in their new home ground. Their campaign also ended prematurely in this season’s Concacaf Champions Cup, which could have provided the winner with a place in the lucrative 2029 Club World Cup.
Although players like Messi, De Paul, and Suárez continue to deliver decisive performances that keep Miami in the second position in the East with 22 points, the fundamental issues persist. Each player contributed on Saturday, with Messi providing two assists in yet another stellar performance.
However, these key players won’t be able to play forever, and it won’t be easy to find a replacement capable of compensating for the roster’s imbalances. Mas is beginning to consider the future of the club post-Messi, vowing to continue securing world-class talent, but he acknowledges that his star player is a “unicorn.”
The situation in Toronto serves as a clear reminder that simply investing in star players isn’t sufficient for success. Miami must strive for balance in their roster if they want to maintain their prestige beyond Messi’s tenure.
Inter Miami still has an opportunity to learn from the missteps of their Canadian counterparts and aim for a more cohesive roster moving forward. With Messi having recently signed a contract extension through the 2028 season, Mas has an additional two years to strategize and build wisely.