Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United live score, result, updates from first Round One playoff match

Lionel Messi hits the field for his first career MLS playoff match as Inter Miami and Atlanta United meet for the first of their best-of-three Round One series on Friday at Chase Stadium.

The Herons won the regular season title to clinch the top playoff seed, led most of the way by Messi who topped the Major League Soccer goal contributions chart through the 2024 campaign. Yet they will need to make good on that regular season success by holding serve in the playoffs to make the journey a truly smashing success.

As the top seed, Inter Miami are matched up against wild card round winners Atlanta United, who progressed through the one-off matchup against CF Montreal on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

The Sporting News is following the Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.

Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United live score

	Score	Goal scorers
Inter Miami	1	Suarez (2′)
Atlanta United	0	–

Kickoff: 8:45 p.m. ET / 5:45 p.m. PT
Location: Chase Stadium (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Referee: Allen Chapman

Starting lineups:

Inter Miami (3-5-2, right to left): 1. Callender (GK) — 6. Aviles, 5. Busquets, 14. D. Martinez — 57. Weigandt, 20. D. Gomez, 55. Redondo, 42. Bright, 18. Alba — 10. Messi, 9. Suarez.

Atlanta United (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Guzan (GK) — 11. Lennon, 5. Gregersen, 3. D. Williams, 18. Amador — 6. Slisz, 13. McCarty — 9. Lobzhanidze, 59. Miranchuk, 35. Fortune — 29. Thiare.

MORE: Find out which games are streaming free on MLS Season pass from Apple TV each week

Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United live updates, highlights from Round One

2nd min: GOAL! INTER MIAMI! Luis Suarez has Inter Miami’s first-ever playoff goal as the Herons explode to life just 90 seconds into the match! Jordi Alba begins the move down the left, and his feed to the middle sees Diego Gomez combine with Suarez to craft the opening strike!

Kickoff: They’re under way at Chase Stadium! Lionel Messi is officially an MLS Cup playoff participant as he looks to lead Inter Miami to another silverware first — a league championship.

Kickoff of this match was advertised as 8:30, but in classic U.S. soccer fashion, actually gets the ball rolling 15 minutes later. It was 8:45 all along — they love conning soccer fans into tuning in early in this country.

Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United: Pre-match commentary, analysis, more

15 mins to kick: With Lionel Messi getting all the headlines at Inter Miami, one player who’s flown very much under the radar is Luis Suarez, who has had a massively successful first season with the Herons. Can he play a big role in a title run for Inter Miami?

2️⃣0️⃣ goals on the season for Luis Suárez.

More to come in the Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs?

📺 Free on @AppleTV (8:30pm ET): https://t.co/81yjNWp5KF pic.twitter.com/h3dhSfZV0g

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 26, 2024

30 mins to kick: Ted Lasso star Brendan Hunt, who has become a sort of U.S. soccer ambassador in the United States, is on hand tonight in Miami for this match. Hunt compared making the trip to see Lionel Messi to his experience watching Michael Jordan down the stretch of his career in the actor’s hometown of Chicago.

Brendan Hunt in the house. 👋

📺 Free on @AppleTV: https://t.co/81yjNWp5KF // Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/cElY07f6G3

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 25, 2024

45 mins to kick: It’s notable that Dax McCarty is in the starting lineup for Atlanta United. He has a ton of experience against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, both good and bad. He is retiring at the end of the season, and thus this playoff series could potentially be his final professional matches if Atlanta bow out.

I truly believe that Dax McCarty will leave MLS as one of its most underrated, underappreciated players. Among the league’s all-time most consistently good midfielders, full stop. Happy trails, Dax.

— Pablo Iglesias Maurer (@MLSist) October 19, 2024

1 hour to kickoff: Lineups are in. Lionel Messi starts in a strong Inter Miami XI which features most of the club’s main stars. Yannick Bright in midfield is a big of a surprise, while Julian Gressell, who has started all season long, is on the bench.

There are no surprises for the visitors, who stick with almost the same XI that secured a 2-2 draw against CF Montreal in the wild card round. The only change sees 37-year-old Dax McCarty come into midfield to replace Ronald Hernandez.

1 hour 15 mins to kick: Atlanta United are making sure everyone knows they aren’t afraid of being the underdog against an Inter Miami side which will bring a record number of eyeballs thanks to the presence of Messi.

Which, some might argue, would indicate they are, in fact, afraid.

No reason to be scared.#UniteThe404 pic.twitter.com/uhevn2pbUD

— Atlanta United FC (@ATLUTD) October 25, 2024

1 hour 30 mins to kick: While we wait for lineups from this big playoff match, there’s some pretty significant news from elsewhere in the league as the San Jose Earthquakes are in advanced talks with Bruce Arena to make him their next head coach, according to league insider Tom Bogert.

That would be a major hire given Arena’s contentious departure from the New England Revolution last season after allegations of “insensitive and inappropriate remarks.” Arena is first all-time in MLS for wins, MLS Cup titles, Supporters’ Shield wins, and Coach of the Year awards throughout his managerial career, as well as having led the USMNT to some of the team’s most memorable victories.

2 hours to kickoff: One feature of Inter Miami playoff matches throughout the club’s MLS Cup run is a feature camera that will only follow Lionel Messi, giving fans the option to keep an eye on the Argentine at every moment on the field.

The option will be available on a special live stream via the MLS TikTok channel, while the regular broadcast is accessible on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, made free to all for tonight’s match regardless of subscription level.

Watch Messi’s every move in a special TikTok livestream on @MLS and @InterMiamiCF as he leads Miami’s historic title quest.

Sign up using this link to be notified when the stream is live: https://t.co/qVmNUhBnBI pic.twitter.com/NXZDWmi8Y7

— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) October 25, 2024

Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United kickoff time

This MLS Cup playoff match kicks off from Chase Stadium on Friday, October 25 at 8:30 p.m. local time in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Here’s how that time translates across the time zones in North America:

	Date	Kickoff time
Eastern Time	Fri, Oct. 25	8:30 p.m.
Central Time	Fri, Oct. 25	7:30 p.m.
Mountain Time	Fri, Oct. 25	6:30 p.m.
Pacific Time	Fri, Oct. 25	5:30 p.m.

Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United lineups, team news, starting 11

Inter Miami struggled with fitness issues all season, but they appear as close to full strength as they have been in months. Most notably, Lionel Messi is fully fit and was rested in the final match of the season, still managing a hat-trick off the bench against the New England Revolution.

Matias Rojas has returned to training and is fit enough for a spot on the bench, while David Martinez started the regular season finale in a return from injury.

The only players to miss out are long-term absentees Nicolas Freire and Facundo Farias, while David Ruiz has a hamstring injury suffered late in the season on international duty that will likely affect his availability throughout the playoffs.

Inter Miami starting lineup (3-5-2): Callender (GK) — Aviles, Busquets, D. Martinez — Weigandt, D. Gomez, Redondo, Bright, Alba — Messi, Suarez.

Due to their precarious table position, Atlanta United were forced to go full tilt down the entire stretch run of the regular season, but they seem to have emerged relatively unscathed. The only major fitness concern for Atlanta United is to forward Edwin Mosquera who could miss most or all of the playoffs with a knee injury picked up late in the season.

Inter Miami will want to keep a close eye on Saba Lobzhanidze who terrorized them in their September regular season meeting and finished the year in good formm, scoring five goals and assisting three more in 14 matches since the start of June.

Atlanta United starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Guzan (GK) — Lennon, Gregersen, D. Williams, Amador — Slisz, McCarty — Lobzhanidze, Miranchuk, Fortune — Thiare.

Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United live stream, TV channel

Every single match of the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs, from the wild card round all the way through the MLS Cup final, is available in one place: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

As a special promotion to get fans excited for the postseason, every single game in the wild card round and the first set of Round One matches will be available to access for free on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. That includes this first meeting of the best-of-three series between Inter Miami and CF Montreal, accessible for all fans to view regardless of subscription status.

If you wish to tag along for the entirety of Inter Miami’s postseason run, Apple TV is running a special offer for new subscribers who can sign up now for just $9.99 to access not just the Herons but every single game of the entire postseason. Meanwhile, those already with an active Apple TV+ subscription can sign up for MLS Season Pass for free for the rest of the playoffs.