Sergio Busquets Makes Brutally Honest Inter Miami Club World Cup Admission | OneFootball

Sergio Busquets did not hold back when speaking about Inter Miami's chances at this summer's FIFA Club World Cup.

As the host nation for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, Inter Miami were handed a spot in the newly expanded tournament. The Herons received the bid after they won the 2024 Supporters' Shield for their record-breaking MLS regular season under Gerardo "Tata" Martino.

Fast forward five months later and Inter Miami are somewhat unrecognizable under Javier Mascherano. The club sits fourth in the Eastern Conference standings and just suffered two poor defeats in their Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal tie. Vancouver Whitecaps eliminated the Herons 5–1 on aggregate, leaving Inter Miami with a lot of questions moving forward.

In fact, the lopsided tie prompted Busquets to look ahead to Inter Miami's FIFA Club World Cup campaign, and the former Barcelona star is questioning his side's ability to make a deep run in the tournament.

"It's clear that we are not at the level to compete at the Club World Cup, but we will try to compete in our group," Busquets said. "Go game by game, fight and hopefully advance to the next round though it'll be difficult."

Inter Miami were sorted into Group A with SE Palmeiras, FC Porto and Al Ahly FC. On paper, a team with Busquets, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Jordi Alaba should be able to make it out of its group, but much tougher competition is on the horizon. With European giants like Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City all participating in the tournament, the Herons are fighting an uphill battle, especially if they do not improve their recent form.

Unlike Busquets, though, Mascherano believes it is too early to shift focus to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. After all, Inter Miami still must play six MLS matches before the tournament begins.

"We now have to keep focusing on MLS," Mascherano said after the Herons crashed out of the Concacaf Champions Cup. "I don't think ahead to the Club Cup because we are a month and a half away. Now it's time to focus on MLS. We've been competing in two competitions for two months and a half and we did it well."

Mascherano will hope Inter Miami's 4–1 victory over New York Red Bulls at the weekend will get the Herons back on track. The team has already suffered four defeats across all competitions in the last two months and will be eager to string together some important victories to climb back up the Eastern Conference standings.

All eyes will be on Messi and Inter Miami, though, when the Herons kick off the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup against Al Ahly on June 14.