Jamaica Premier League champions Cavalier SC will attempt to overturn a 2-0 deficit when they host Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami CF in the second leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup round of 16 tie at the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
The winner on aggregate will advance to the quarterfinals. Away goals serve as the primary tiebreaker, with extra time and a penalty shootout to be used if necessary.
Inter Miami secured a 2-0 victory in the first leg at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, last Thursday, with Messi - considered one of football’s greatest players - watching from a premium on-field suite.
The 37-year-old Argentine traveled with the squad to Jamaica on Wednesday evening but has missed Miami’s last three matches due to what head coach Javier Mascherano described as load management. He trained with the team before the trip, though his participation remains uncertain.
“Tomorrow we will decide for the game what is best, if he starts or waits on the bench and comes in later,” Mascherano told reporters on Wednesday.
Mascherano reiterated that Messi had not suffered an injury but was rested as a precaution after Miami played three matches in seven days to start the 2025 Major League Soccer (MLS) season.
Tadeo Allende and Luis Suárez scored in the first leg for Inter Miami. Both forwards have found the net in their last two Concacaf Champions Cup appearances.
Inter Miami, which enter the match as big favourite, will seek to protect their advantage and secure a quarterfinal berth for the first time, while Cavalier will need a vastly improved attacking display after registering just one shot on target in the first leg.
The winner of the series will face Los Angeles FC, another MLS club, in the next round.
MLS teams have won all three previous two-legged encounters against Jamaican opposition, including D.C. United’s victories over Harbour View in the 2005 and 2008 quarterfinals and FC Cincinnati’s triumph over Cavalier in the 2024 first round.
MLS clubs are unbeaten in their last five matches in Jamaica (three wins, two draws). Inter Miami will be only the second MLS side to conclude a two-legged series as the visiting team in Jamaica, following D.C. United’s 2-1 win over Harbour View in the 2004/05 quarterfinals.
This is the fifth time a Jamaican club will host the second leg of a two-legged tie. Jamaican teams have won three of the four previous matches, but no Caribbean club has ever advanced after closing out a home-and-away series on home soil.
