Miamis star power overwhelms but Herons must heed Torontos cautionary tale

Inter Miami and their stars traveled to face Toronto FC on Saturday, summoning the largest crowd in the Canadian club’s history to BMO Field with 44,828 spectators. Fans watched as Lionel Messi, Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suárez outshined their hosts to win 4-2, with two of the team’s three designated players on the score sheet in Ontario.

It was an afternoon when Messi reached the milestone of 100 goal contributions in MLS, doing so in just 64 regular-season games to become the fastest player to reach that figure. Perhaps poetically, he beat the mark set by former Toronto legend Sebastian Giovinco — who just happened to play in a legends friendly at BMO Field on Friday — at 95 matches.

Miami won the game Saturday, but it was a closer contest than the scoreline suggests, and Toronto’s five-years-and-counting playoff drought should serve as a cautionary tale for the Herons.

In 2017, three years before Inter Miami had even kicked a ball competitively, the Reds were the pinnacle of success in Major League Soccer.

Former general manager Tim Bezbatchenko signed Giovinco, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore to DP contracts that totaled $18.44 million annually. Giovinco, the former Juventus standout and Italy international, became the second-highest-paid player in the league at $7,115,555.67. Toronto was the biggest-spending team in the league that season, with a payroll of $22.478 million, outspending second place by more than $4 million.

Paying the big bucks worked.

The trio of DPs combined to record 31 goals and 18 assists, while the rest of the squad supported them by allowing the least number of goals in the Eastern Conference. Toronto went on to win the MLS Cup, the Supporters’ Shield and broke the league record for points in a single season.

That was the high-water mark for TFC. Giovinco, Bradley and Altidore aged out and results suffered.

In 2022, ownership attempted to revitalize the team’s sterling reputation by investing in a new round of big-name DPs with Italian duo Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi. Insigne became the second-highest-paid player in MLS (behind Messi) at $15.4 million, while Bernardeschi ranked fifth at $6.295 million.

Success didn’t follow.

Toronto ended the 2023 season in last place in the Eastern Conference with a mere 22 points from 34 games with a negative goal difference of 33. The Reds allowed the most goals in the conference with 59.

By then, the problem was not the amount of money spent, but the way it was spent. The tactic of signing two stars to carry the weight of the rest of a poorly built team was a colossal failure.

Since Giovinco left in 2019, the Reds have gone through six coaching changes and averaged an 11th-place finish in the Eastern Conference. Insigne and Bernardeschi combined for 45 goals in the best part of three seasons before each agreed to have their contracts terminated.

The situation isn’t much better now. After spending a reported $22 million transfer fee — which could become $27 million after incentive-based bonuses — on U.S. men’s national team striker Josh Sargent, Toronto sits eighth in the East and was eliminated from the Canadian Championship in the preliminary round.

The once mighty have been in a free fall for the past six years, replaced as the league’s model club by Saturday’s victors: Inter Miami.

The Herons followed a similar — albeit somewhat more ambitious — blueprint by spending significant sums of money to build the league’s best roster in 2023. Co-owner Jorge Mas brought on Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba in 2023, Suárez followed in 2024 and De Paul in 2025.

Miami has led the league in spending every year since Messi’s arrival, with Inter’s crown jewel unsurprisingly being the highest-paid player in MLS.

It proved to be money well spent. Inter Miami lifted the Supporters’ Shield and set a new single-season points record in 2024, then followed that up by winning MLS Cup in 2025.

But Father Time is undefeated. Players move on.

Busquets and Alba retired last offseason, leaving the Herons to fill the boots of two legends of the modern game. Although the Herons signed forward Germán Berterame to a DP contract, added 2025 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair in free agency, and recruited a couple of experienced players to complement the backline, the shortcomings of their unbalanced roster have begun to appear.

Miami won on Saturday but continued to suffer in the midfield and defense. Toronto led in expected goals (0.50-0.49), chances created (5-2) and shots attempted (7-5) in the first half. Inter then allowed two goals in the final 15 minutes.

Such errors have plagued the Herons in 2026. They came into Saturday’s game on the heels of a 4-3 loss to in-state rival Orlando City on Saturday, having taken a 3-0 lead inside 35 minutes.

Inter Miami have scored 26 goals in 12 games this season. They’ve also conceded 21 — just 10th best in the 15-team Eastern Conference.

The Herons have not won a single match at Nu Stadium, recording three draws and one loss in their brand-new home. The team also fell at the first hurdle of this season’s Concacaf Champions Cup, a competition that offers its winner a place at the lucrative 2029 Club World Cup.

Stars like Messi, De Paul and Suárez continue to paper over the team’s defensive issues, delivering game-changing goals to propel Miami to second place in the East with 22 points. Each was on the score sheet on Saturday, and Messi delivered yet another outstanding performance by adding two assists, too.

But these players won’t be on the field forever, and not just any star can offset the weight of an unbalanced roster. Mas has begun to think about the future of this club without Messi, promising to continue signing world-class players, but he knows his No. 10 is a “unicorn.”

Toronto, however, proves that throwing money at stars isn’t enough. Miami must strive to find balance rather than glitz if it is to keep the glamor beyond Messi’s playing days.

Inter Miami still have time to heed the warning of Saturday’s Canadian opponents and chase a more cohesive roster in the years to come. Messi recently signed a contract extension with the club through the 2028 season, giving Mas two more years to plan and build accordingly.