By Janina Nuno Rios
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Inter Miami and the Vancouver Whitecaps step into an unprecedented MLS Cup final on Saturday, each chasing their first Philip F. Anschutz trophy in a spectacle fuelled by the renewed rivalry between Lionel Messi and Thomas Mueller.
With ticket prices at record highs, the free global broadcast will reach more than 100 countries, while Major League Soccer is rolling out its most ambitious production yet for a final featuring two of Europe’s stars.
At 38, Messi produced the season Inter Miami had hoped for when they brought the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner to Florida, with him steering the club to their first MLS Cup final and setting an all-time assist record of 405 along the way.
The Argentine captain had 29 goals and 19 assists in the regular campaign, plus six goals and seven assists in the postseason.
Longtime Bayern Munich talisman Mueller, who arrived in Vancouver in August, was instrumental in driving the campaign of the CONCACAF Champions Cup runners-up, delivering seven goals and three assists across seven regular-season matches.
The head-to-head balance between the two veteran players tilts the German’s way, with him having won seven of their 10 meetings, including two Bayern thrashings of Barcelona in the Champions League in 2013 and 2020 and Argentina’s painful defeat in the 2014 World Cup final.
“Perhaps they rely on him a little more than this team relies on me,” the 36-year-old Mueller said of Messi and Inter Miami after Vancouver beat San Diego in the Western Conference final.
“This is a final I wanted. The good thing is not only playing against the best player who has ever played our sport and who continues to do so, but I think when you have a match like this, more people see you.
“If you play with these great players and names, then it’s a little more exciting for more people around the world. It’s a perfect situation for everyone involved.”
As Mueller suggested, the match-up’s profile has lifted the entire event, driving record demand and the most ambitious broadcast MLS has ever assembled.
According to marketplace TickPick, this year’s final is the most expensive MLS Cup on record, with an average ticket purchase price of $565, surpassing the previous $501 high from 2022.
MLS and Apple have matched that demand with their largest production ever, promising “the most immersive broadcast yet” with more than 30 cameras, drones, robotic goal units, referee cams and isolated feeds on players and coaches around Chase Stadium.
It will be a fitting stage for two World Cup winners chasing one more title in the twilight of their careers, and with the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., Canada and Mexico on the horizon.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; editing by Clare Fallon)
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