CASE 023: PERSPECTIVES ON MLS CUP 2025, BY JOHN BANEY
CASE 023: PERSPECTIVES ON MLS CUP 2025, BY JOHN BANEY
CASE 023: PERSPECTIVES ON MLS CUP 2025, BY JOHN BANEY
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami have just won their first league title in Major League Soccer, but I don’t want to talk about them yet. First, I’d much rather talk about the side on the losing end of this final: the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Before this season, the ol’ low-budget, small market, lone Canadian franchise in the Western Conference had never been the star of the show. Starved of starpower and without much MLS success to speak of in their decade and a half of modern existence, the MLS spotlight has been happily pointed elsewhere since they entered the league in 2011. Ahead of the 2025 season, the lone league-wide storyline this club had to offer was the unsettling murmur of its potential relocation.
For Whitecaps fans, this nightmarish prospect has been looming over their heads for some time. But before their stadium worries, ownership drama, or relocation fears could truly take hold this season, something incredible happened. Overnight, as if a young fan had wished upon a star to save them, the Vancouver freakin’ Whitecaps were the best team in MLS.
Fueled seemingly by the soccer gods themselves and the power of friendship, Vancouver started hot and never looked back. They ripped off 32 points from their first 15 MLS matches, and bounded their way past beast after beast in Concacaf Champions League, slaying Saprissa, Monterey, Pumas, and *clears throat* INTER MIAMI to reach their first continental final in club history.
Unfortunately, as it turns out, this team kinda stinks in finals … but ignore that for now.
Undeterred by a Cruz Azul beatdown in CCC, Vancouver kept chugging away in the latter half of their MLS campaign, but with a distinctly new swagger to their step. It was as if, after years of playing the tree, Vancouver had thrust itself to center stage and demanded the lead role.
What was most remarkable about all of this, is that it felt entirely unprompted. There was no fairytale run in 2024 to suggest this was a team on the brink of greatness, nor was there some squad overhaul to transform the wildcard-seeking side of a season prior. There was just a new head coach in the door named Jesper Sørensen, and he was there to ball. Under his guidance, Vancouver weren’t just winning games; they were winning games beautifully, stringing together attacking moves that would make the back of Pep Guardiola’s bald head shed a tear of joy.
Sørensen’s superpower was his knack for harnessing abilities in his players that previous managers couldn’t. Simply put, he made his players better players. Ryan Guald, the guy who made everything happen for this Vancouver side in years past, was hurt for the majority of this season. Instead, they leaned on the dependable goalscoring of Brian White, and their cast of budding stars like Sebastian Berhalter, Emmanuel Sabbi, Ali Ahmed, Jayden Nelson, and Pedro Vite.
Vancouver’s ownership, driven by the magic of their team’s performances on the field, and the desperation of their situation off it, then did something they’ve never really done before: they signed a splashy, global superstar. Thomas Müller was putting balls in the back of the net before the ink on his new contract could dry, adding a face to a franchise that seldom had one, and some serious firepower for a team that was now firmly a contender for MLS Cup.
Come playoff time, they cruised past FC Dallas in round one, outslugged Heung Min Son and LAFC in round two, and outclassed San Diego FC in the Western Conference Final. Eight months and 38 games later, the last thing standing between Vancouver Whitecaps and a historic first MLS Cup in club history was … Lionel Messi.
The dream slayer, destroyer of worlds, prince of darkness, judge, jury, and executioner: Lionel Messi, entering the final in the form of his MLS life. His 43 goals and 23 assists in all comps were enough to crown him MVP, and his Inter Miami side was firing cleaner than they ever had in the Messi era.
Javier ‘I Didn’t Know He Coached Miami’ Mascherano had finally sorted out his once leaky defense, and made the difficult (but correct) decision to bench Luis Suárez. Vitally, he’d inspired a real belief amongst his team. Sporting a +13 goal difference in their 5-game playoff run to-date, this version of Inter Miami was better than the one Vancouver beat in CCC - they were a buzzsaw.
In the end, Vancouver lost 3-1, falling at the very last hurdle for the second time this year. Instead of history looking upon the 2025 season as a great underdog triumph, it’ll be remembered as the year the best player ever won the title with one of the best MLS teams ever. So much for your fairytale ending.
But while it’s human nature to pull for the underdog, to throw a couple of bucks on David to cover the spread, Goliath winning isn’t all bad here. In some ways, it’s really worth celebrating.
Between their dubiously constructed roster and ridiculous on-field antics, Miami found themselves playing the villain in MLS’s theater this season. But there was something about seeing Jordi Alba collapse to the turf in celebration of the title-clinching goal, in what would be his and Sergio Busquets’ last ever games, that paints a different picture - one that’s legacy will probably outlast that of some long-shot champion like Vancouver.
Messi, surrounded by his best friends and true legends of the game, just won MLS Cup on home soil and celebrated it like crazy. That’s good for the league. Messi has now properly stamped his name into the MLS record books. That's good for the league. Inter Miami, whose record spending has now seen them lift Leagues Cup, a Supporters Shield, and an MLS Cup, have demonstrated that ambition in this league can be rewarded. That’s good for the league.
Like it or not, Miami winning it all marks a moment in time for MLS - something that’ll be remembered by MLS hardos and complete casuals alike for years to come. Vancouver winning might’ve been immensely special, but perhaps only for those paying close enough attention to appreciate it.
