JUST IN: Dax McCarty and Taylor Twellman praise Inter Miami for their progress in the Club World Cup, calling the conclusion “exactly what naysayers needed to see.” “Massive result for MLS”

Based on CWC results, the two analysts talked about how MLS clubs and European teams are becoming more competitive.

WHAT TOOK PLACE

Former MLS players Taylor Twellman and Dax McCarty think Inter Miami’s results in the Club World Cup group stage highlight how close the league’s teams are to contending with European powerhouses. The LAFC and Seattle Sounders were eliminated, while Miami advanced to the CWC knockout round.

“We have to start winning games like this if we want to compare ourselves to the best in the world, shoot for the stars, and start competing regularly with teams from the best leagues in the world,” McCarty stated on The Overlap US podcast, alluding to Miami’s victory over Porto in the CWC. “Look, if you want to make a statement like, ‘We can compete or we’re on the correct trajectory to compete with these teams,’ you need to win.

“And Inter Miami did that… when you talk about FC Porto, when you talk about the history of that team, the history of the Portuguese league and them dominating it, and competing in the Champions League, this is a massive result for MLS as a whole.”

McCarty said Seattle won over some critics and fans with their performances, despite three losses.

“If Seattle plays like that in MLS play, with that amount of consistency and getting the performances they got out of players like Jackson Reagan, players like Christian and Obed Vargas,” he said, “they’re going to not just easily make the playoffs but they will challenge Vancouver and LAFC for the first place in the West – and potentially the Supporter’s Shield still.”

WHAT TAYLOR TWELLMAN SAID

Twellman, who had 30 caps for the USMNT, said that MLS clubs need to consistently beat Liga MX teams to prove the league is the best in North America.

“The most important thing MLS can do is be the best league on this continent,” Twellman said. “And in order to do so you’ve got to regularly beat Liga MX in the biggest games with the most pressure on them. The United States teams, the MLS teams have not done that.”

He did agree that Inter Miami’s showings against Porto and Palmieras in the CWC were impactful.

“I think this is a pivotal moment for MLS,” he said. “and I think for Inter Miami, I think Javier Mascherano, I think Lionel Messi, I think Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez – and everyone knows it… the Commissioner is in that building, the owners are looking at it saying ‘We are now at the precipice where we can actually compete’.

“And I’m not going to sit here and be an idiot and a prisoner of the moment and say you’re going to win seven out of 10 games against Porto… [but] this is really interesting for me because it’s exactly what MLS needed to see and it’s exactly what the naysayers needed to see because the MLS teams, they’re not far off.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The Club World Cup has provided unprecedented direct comparisons between MLS sides and top global competition. The tactical approaches and competitive intensity shown by Miami and Seattle indicate systematic improvement rather than mere isolated results.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Inter Miami, having advanced from the group stages, will face Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.