The Messi Effect is Real!
Over 60,000 fans showed up to watch Inter Miami take on Al-Ahly…
The revamped FIFA Club World Cup is finally underway—FIFA’s big swing at turning a mostly forgotten tournament into a global spectacle. The goal is simple: noise, big soccer news headlines, and dollars. And they had one card to play: Messi. And guess what? The bet worked.
A Packed House
Soccer rumors swirled in the weeks before kickoff. Ticket sales were crawling, and FIFA started sweating. It got so bad that Infantino himself tossed out a Hail Mary: teasing a surprise appearance by Cristiano Ronaldo to stir up some buzz.
Fast-forward to game day, and the Hard Rock Stadium was packed. Over 60,000 fans showed up to watch Inter Miami take on Al-Ahly, Africa’s heavyweight.
🚨🏆 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 | Attendance for the opening match of the 2025 Club World Cup between Al Ahly and Inter Miami is 60,927. 🇺🇸🏟️ pic.twitter.com/crG4H5BBLB
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) June 15, 2025
The VIP section was a show of its own. Beckham was there, of course. And the original Ronaldo, El Fenomeno, sat beside him, looking like football royalty next to Infantino.
Even British pop relic Robbie Williams showed up. (Yeah, that Robbie Williams. The guy your older cousin probably cried over in the early 2000s.) He and Laura Pausini cooked up the tournament anthem Desire. No Gen Z kid on TikTok can identify any of them, but whatever, they were a big deal back in the day.
Sir Becks. 🙌#FIFACWC pic.twitter.com/W6fkfwp0rW
— FIFA Club World Cup (@FIFACWC) June 14, 2025
More FIFA Club World Cup News!
- 3 Dark Horses That Could Win the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup
- Ranking the Top 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Venues
- The Beauty Behind the FIFA Club World Cup Trophy
- Ranking the Best Kits at the FIFA Club World Cup
Speed Gets Ghosted
Also in the crowd: internet chaos engine and CR7 superfan iShowSpeed. He was buzzing, right there by the tunnel, hyped to maybe, just maybe, get a nod from Messi.
Didn’t happen.
Messi walked past, throwing quick greetings left and right… Then looked straight through Speed like he didn’t exist. Cold. Ice cold. Speed froze up, stunned, like someone just unplugged him from the Matrix.
#IShowSpeed really went all the way out there just for #Messi to ignore him 😭 pic.twitter.com/jQ6Eo6iBf8
— LockerRoom RAW (@LockerRoom_RAW) June 16, 2025
Harsh? Maybe. Or maybe Messi just didn’t recognize the dude. Or maybe he’s laser-focused on the job.
Because make no mistake, the GOAT came to play. Messi’s stats at the MLS are 10 goals in 13 MLS games, proving he’s still got fire in the tank. The kind of fire that can carry a team—and a tournament—on his back.
Comments (0)