{"id":2079,"date":"2025-11-28T21:38:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=2079"},"modified":"2025-11-28T21:38:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:38:01","slug":"mls-conference-finals-preview-predictions-can-lionel-messi-keep-inter-miami-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=2079","title":{"rendered":"MLS Conference Finals Preview, Predictions: Can Lionel Messi Keep Inter Miami On Track?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>Thanksgiving is finished, the leftover turkey refrigerated, those dirty dishes all (hopefully) cleaned and dried and stacked away. Now it\u2019s time to get on with the MLS Cup playoff semifinals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>Last weekend\u2019s quarters were epic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>In the Eastern Conference, Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami made short work of FC Cincinnati, dispatching the higher seed with ease. U.S. men\u2019s national team starter Matt Freese backstopped New York City FC to an upset of the Philadelphia Union, which won the Supporters Shield as the league&#8217;s regular season champion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>Out West, the Vancouver Whitecaps somehow survived the momentum shift wrought by Son\u2019s dramatic last gasp free kick, beating LAFC on penalties in front of 54,000 fans north of the border. And San Diego FC\u2019s dream expansion campaign continued on Monday, when they eliminated Minnesota United on a late goal by Danish star and MLS MVP finalist Anders Dreyer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>That sets up Saturday\u2019s final four. Here\u2019s how the semis shape up, and who we see advancing to the MLS Cup final on Dec. 6 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX\/FOX One\/FOX Deportes and AppleTV).<\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Joe Robbins\/ISI Photos\/ISI Photos via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97><strong>When: Saturday Nov. 29, 6 p.m. ET (AppleTV)<\/strong><br \/><strong>Where: Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>Messi looks likes he&#8217;s on a mission this fall, both to claim his first MLS title since arriving in mid 2023 \u2014 thereby proving his move from Europe to South Florida a success \u2014 and to send retiring teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets off into the sunset as winners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>That\u2019s bad news for the Pigeons. If there\u2019s a silver lining for the visitors, it\u2019s that they\u2019re playing with house money in this match. The pressure is all on the Herons, who fell short in last year\u2019s first round and in Concacaf play in both 2024 and 2025. Miami also lost the Leagues Cup final in Seattle in August.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>MLS Cup is the trophy they covet the most, however. Miami is now just two victories away from redemption. They\u2019ll also host the final if they get there \u2013 adding to the incentive this weekend. And while NYCFC won\u2019t be an easy out, it\u2019s hard to bet against Messi &amp; Co. in this one.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97><i>Prediction: Miami 3, NYCFC 1<\/i><\/p>\n<p><span>(Photo by Rich Lam\/Getty Images)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97><strong>When: Saturday Nov. 29, 9 p.m. ET (AppleTV)<\/strong><br \/><strong>Where: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, California\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>We\u2019ve been waiting all season for the clock to strike midnight on San Diego\u2019s Cinderella run. Hasn\u2019t happened. The squad assembled by GM\/sporting director Tyler Heaps and coached by former USMNT interim boss Mikey Varas is the real deal. That they\u2019ve proven to be even with Mexican national team forward Hirving \"Chucky\" Lozano playing a supporting role during the postseason is even more impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>This match still has upset written all over it. Like Miami, Vancouver also feels like a team of destiny. They reached the Concacaf final last spring \u2014 besting Messi\u2019s Herons over two games \u2014 and have only improved since adding German World Cup winner and Bayern Munich legend Thomas Muller in the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>The Caps also won\u2019t be fazed by playing away from home, even with MLS defender of the year award winner Triston Blackmon suspended for the contest after getting sent off late in the match versus LAFC, and even though San Diego narrowly took the season series with a June win at BC Place.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97>It's worth mentioning that heart-and-soul midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and striker Brian White were on Gold Cup duty with the USMNT then. When both were back in coach Jesper S\u00f8rensen's lineup for the rematch in Southern California the following month, it ended \u00a01-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97><i>Prediction: Vancouver 2, San Diego 1<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-160ccf97><i>Doug McIntyre<\/i><i> is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered\u00a0<\/i><i><u>United States<\/u><\/i><i> men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @<\/i><i><u>ByDougMcIntyre<\/u><\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Thanksgiving is finished, the leftover turkey refrigerated, those dirty dishes all (hopefully) cleaned and dried and stacked away. Now it\u2019s time to get on with the MLS Cup playoff semifinals. Last weekend\u2019s quarters were epic. In the Eastern Conference, Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami made short work of FC Cincinnati, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}