Inter Miami and Al Ahly drew 0-0 in front of a large audience in the opening match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
Egyptian Al Ahly had a better chance to score, but Trezeguet saw a penalty in the first half blocked by Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari.
Lionel Messi, who started just four days after competing in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with Argentina, played well and created many chances in the second half.
With a squad led by Messi and Luis Suarez, few people expect another name to shine. However, goalkeeper Ustari was the focus of attention in the match against Al Ahly.
In the first half alone, the goalkeeper made four important saves to prevent the Egyptian team from taking an early lead. Inter Miami's defensive difficulties have forced Ustari to face the speed of Al Ahly strikers.
However, it was not until the 46th minute that Ustari consolidated his title as the best player of the match by successfully blocking the penalty. For the first time since October 28, 2022, Ustari had just blocked a shot from the penalty spot, helping Inter Miami maintain a balanced position.
Although he joined Inter Miami in September 2024, Ustari has only recently become a starting goalkeeper after Drake Callender suffered a long-term injury in January. The 38-year-old player rose from the bench to become an important figure to save Inter Miami from embarrassment in the international arena.
Ustari ended Miami's first FIFA Club World Cup match with eight saves, more than the home team's shots on target (5) . The Argentine goalkeeper deserves to be recognized for his excellent performance, but this probably only exposes Inter Miami's weaknesses.
Ustari will find it difficult to save Miami's struggling defence and squad that has been severely damaged by injuries against other opponents in Group A such as FC Porto and Palmeiras.
"Football is like that. In the first half, they may have had a few scoring opportunities, but overall in the 90 minutes, we played much better than Al Ahly. We controlled the game, held the ball, always tried to play on the opponent's field and created many opportunities.
Obviously, we want to win. Inter Miami know how important it is to start with 3 points. But I am satisfied with the performance of the whole team. We have shown great courage. That is very important, especially when many people still don't really know how Inter Miami plays," Miami coach Rafael Mascherano said after the match.
Meanwhile, Al Ahly was the team that played much better in the first half, but could not score. Although Inter Miami played better in the second half, Al Ahly still felt like they had missed an opportunity.
Group A is considered relatively balanced and all 4 teams have opportunities. Al Ahly may need to beat Palmeiras or Porto to qualify for the next round after a draw with Miami - a difficult task.
"I am disappointed with this result. We can take all 3 points. We respect Inter Miami and their famous players, but we could have finished the game in the first half by scoring three or four goals" - Al Ahly striker Wessam Abou Ali said.
Inter Miami will face Porto in the next round in Atlanta, while Al Ahly will meet Palmeiras in New York, where more fans are expected to appear.
In terms of organization, FIFA will be happy when hard Rock Stadium is almost full in the opening match of the tournament. There were empty seats scattered all over the floors - the number of spectators announced was 60,927 with hard Rock's capacity of about 65,000 - but the crowd was large enough for FIFA to consider it a success.
