After a historic 2024 season for Inter Miami CF, let's take a trip down memory lane to recap the highlights from a year packed with milestones for the Club.
Historic Record-Breaking Supporters’ Shield Winning Season
The 2024 MLS regular season was the best one yet for the Club. Inter Miami achieved a record-breaking campaign in which the Club recorded historic stats, orchestrating an impressive turnaround for the team, going from 27th in the Supporters’ Shield race in 2023 to first in 2024.
The notable achievements for the side managed by head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino include setting a new single-season points record in the league with 74 points, registering the best overall 2024 MLS regular season record (22W-4L-8D) to win the Supporters’ Shield and clinch a second title in Club history, becoming the third-fastest club in league history to earn a playoffs berth and secure a third-ever postseason appearance for the Club, recording the most overall wins (22) and wins on the road (11), and leading the league in goals with 83.
"2024 was in many ways a magical year. Not only were we the best team over 34 games but we established records, we're in the record books, we are the team that has accumulated the most points in the history of this league. We lifted a Supporters’ Shield in Columbus, Ohio, which for me personally was a highlight of what is possible," said Inter Miami CF Managaing Owner Jorge Mas.
Team Standouts
Many players performed at the highest level throughout the season to help Inter Miami achieve its most successful season since its inception. Attacking stars Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez finished the season ranking amongst the best in the league in terms of goals and assists. The pair's exploits throughout the regular season even made Inter Miami the first side in MLS history to have two players score at least 20 goals each in a regular season. Taking into account both regular season and Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs games, Club captain Messi totalled 38 goal contributions (21 goals and 17 assists), while forward Suárez tallied 31 goal contributions (21 goals and 10 assists). Messi also became the Club’s all-time leading goalscorer with a hat-trick against the New England Revolution on MLS Decision Day on the final matchday of the regular season to reach 33 goals for Inter Miami, surpassing the 32 goal-mark set by fellow attacker and teammate Leonardo Campana earlier in the season. In all, Messi registered 23 goals and 19 assists across all competitions this year, while Suárez contributed a total of 25 goals and 13 assists.
Legendary Spanish left back Jordi Alba also starred throughout the MLS campaign, pitching in with 20 goal contributions (5 goals and 15 assists), while recording a total 21 assists across all competitions this year. Goalkeeper Drake Callender and midfielder Julian Gressel, meanwhile, made the most MLS appearances in 2024 with 35 and 32 respectively.
Individual Recognitions
In terms of individual awards throughout the league season, Inter Miami featured heavily among the winners. Messi earned two MLS Player of the Month recognitions (April and October) and Suárez won the award once (February/March), with Inter Miami becoming the third club in the last decade to win the award three different times in the same season - joining Los Angeles Football Club in 2019 and Atlanta United in 2018.
Messi and Suárez also racked up several MLS Player of the Matchday recognitions, with the Argentine maestro winning the honor six times and the Uruguayan goal machine three times respectively. Notably, Inter Miami became the first team in MLS history to have two different players win the MLS Player of the Matchday honor at least three times in a single season, while Messi became the third player in MLS history to earn the honor six different times in a single season.
Additionally, Inter Miami was the most represented MLS club in the prestigious 2024 22 Under 22 presented by BodyArmor class with five representatives: Diego Gómez at No. 1, Federico Redondo at No. 5, Benjamin Cremaschi at No. 6, Tomás Avilés at No. 12, and David Ruiz at No. 21.
Lastly, Inter Miami was ever-present in the MLS Team of the Matchday, with the team having representatives in 26 out of 38 editions of the team throughout the campaign. In total, the Club’s head coach and 17 players featured on the TOTM throughout the 2024 regular season: head coach - ‘Tata’ Martino; goalkeepers - Callender and Óscar Ustari; defenders - Alba, Ian Fray; midfielders - Yannick Bright, Sergio Busquets, Cremaschi, Gómez, Gressel, Redondo, Matías Rojas, Ruiz; forwards - Leo Afonso, Leonardo Campana, Messi, Suárez, Robert Taylor.
International Club Competitions
This year, Inter Miami debuted in Concacaf’s premier club competition, the Concacaf Champions Cup. The team first defeated fellow MLS side Nashville SC 5-3 on aggregate in the Round of 16 of the competition in March, with a 2-2 draw on the road and a 3-1 win at home in Chase Stadium, before falling to LIGA MX outfit C.F. Monterrey in the quarterfinals in April. As part of the team’s debut Champions Cup campaign, Chase Stadium hosted its first-ever international club competition match on March 13, with Inter Miami earning a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in the second leg of the team’s series in the Round of 16.
As 2024 Supporters’ Shield winners next season, Inter Miami qualified to compete in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup, marking the second-straight season the team will participate in the competition.
Notably, clinching the Supporters’ Shield also helped the team qualify for the new FIFA Club World Cup™. Inter Miami will also open the tournament as the host team and play in the inaugural game of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ in its hometown of Miami.
Academy Products in the Mix
This season, Inter Miami Academy products continued making strides in the Club’s First Team. In all, five Academy products featured for Inter Miami throughout the campaign: Noah Allen, Afonso, Cremaschi, Fray and Ruiz.
Allen, who proved his versatility by performing at left back or center back, made 26 appearances across all competitions, including two appearances, one of them as a starter, in the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs.
After signing his First Team deal in April 2024, Afonso scored in his first MLS start at Chase Stadium against the Colorado Rapids in April and went on to make key contributions throughout the season, including appearances in the Concacaf Champions Cup and a crucial last-minute match-winning goal at the Philadelphia Union in June.
Following recovery from injury, Cremaschi made his season debut in April and subsequently went on to make 27 appearances across all competitions, including three appearances and a start in playoffs, while contributing four goals and three assists.
Fray also recovered from a long-term injury prior to making his season debut in June, doing so in great fashion, scoring in back to back appearances in the team’s 2-1 win over Columbus Crew on June 19 and against Nashville SC on June 29. The defender then went on to play 17 appearances in all competitions, including an MLS Cup Playoffs appearance, tallying two goals.
Honduran midfielder Ruiz was useful in Martino’s lineups throughout the campaign contributing both in defense and in game generation. He ended the season with a total 34 appearances across all competitions, with a goal and three assists to his name.
Additionally, defenders Tyler Hall and Israel Boatwright signed contracts as a Homegrown Player ahead of the season and continued their development turning out for Inter Miami CF II this year. The up-and-coming defenders became the eighth and ninth Inter Miami Academy products to sign for the First Team.
International Duty
The team’s successful campaign also resulted in various players being summoned by their respective national teams for a variety of competitions throughout the year, including World Cup qualifiers, Concacaf Nations League, 2024 CONMEBOL Copa América, 2024 Paris Olympic Games, 2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, and international friendlies.
The Inter Miami stars called up for international duty throughout the season are the following: Israel Boatwright (Dominican Republic U-23), Callender (USMNT), Campana (Ecuador), Cremaschi (U-20 USMYNT, U.S. Olympic Team), Gómez (Paraguay senior side, U-20 national team), Messi (Argentina), Redondo (Argentina U-23), Rojas (Paraguay), Ruiz (Honduras).
Notably, Messi captained Argentina to the 2024 Copa América title. Gómez, meanwhile, led Paraguay’s U-23 side to glory in the 2024 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament as team captain and concluded the competition as one of the three joint top-scorers with five goals to his name in seven appearances, while also registering two assists in the process. He was then called up for the Paris Olympics and captained the side as the team made it to quarterfinals to register a third-ever knockout stages appearance in what was La Albirroja’s first participation at the tournament in 20 years. Lastly, Cremaschi, who was youngest player on the U.S. roster at just 19 years of age, was also present at the Olympics, featuring for the U-23 USMYNT side as the team qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament for the second time.
Your 2024 Inter Miami CF Squad
Special thanks to the full Inter Miami CF roster, coaching staff and support staff for their efforts to help the Club achieve success in 2024.
Top row: Carlos Beguer, Bobby Gross, Edis Miftari, Alejandro Caparelli, Juan Cruz, Facundo Farías, Franco Negri, Ryan Sailor, David Martínez, Sergii Kryvtsov, Óscar Ustari, Drake Callender, CJ dos Santos, Cole Jensen, Tomás Avilés, Nicolás Freire, Leo Afonso, Lawson Sunderland, Meghan Cameron, Jordyn Kaplan, Gustavo Gomez, Hernan Organvidez, Yassine Cheuko, Antonio Cardone
Middle row: Bernardo Loustalot, Pepe Costa, Xavier Asensi, David Ruiz, Yannick Bright, Sebastián Saja, Manuel Alfaro, Javier Morales, Jorge Theiler, Jose Mas, Jorge Mas, David Beckham, Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, Gerardo Martino Jr., Rodolfo Paladini, Damian Silvero, Erik Marquis, Ian Fray, Noah Allen, Raúl Sanllehí, Chris Henderson, Guillermo Hoyos
Bottom row: Daniela Lara, Adria Ponce Omella, Evan Sokol, Sergio Parra, Walter Insaurralde, Garrison Draper, Marcelo Weigandt, Federico Redondo, Matías Rojas, Diego Gómez, Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba, Julian Gressel, Leonardo Campana, Robert Taylor, Benjamin Cremaschi, Ben Young, Silas Waszczuk, Sofia Chambers, Kei Utsumi, Juan Mesa, Stevens Sanchez
(Names of players and staff are listed by row from left to right)
After a fruitful and historic 2024 season in which Inter Miami made substantial progress on the pitch, the Club looks forward to the exciting future ahead as we continue to build on the foundation laid and continue competing for titles.
