Messi denied late as Miami held by Al Ahly to open Club World Cup

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami were held to a scoreless draw against Egypt's Al Ahly in the opening game of the Club World Cup on Saturday night.

Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at Hard Rock Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar.

Miami had its own good fortune, surviving a first-half onslaught by 12-time African champion Al Ahly, with goalkeeper Oscar Ustari saving a penalty from Trézéguet just before the break.

Inter Miami will face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta while Al Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, will take on Palmeiras in New York, where more of their fans are expected to turn up.

"We have to constantly improve as a team," Ustari told reporters. "We're a very young team, and some people don't see it, but Inter made history. They've only been developing for a few years, and today they're playing in the Club World Cup, so we have to value that.

"We finish with the feeling that we could have scored, and I think we were superior. The upcoming opponent will be completely different, so we have to rest and focus on our future."

In Miami, 60,927 fans almost filled the 65,000-capacity stadium for Inter Miami's clash with Al Ahly, dismissing, at least on the night, concerns about the attractiveness of the tournament featuring 32 teams for the first time, a year before the World Cup is co-hosted by the U.S.

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No incidents were reported at the game after about 1,000 protesters gathered in the morning near U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, about 70 miles north of Miami, waving placards and chanting slogans as part of coordinated nationwide "No Kings" demonstrations.

Inter Miami, whose home attendances average 20,663 in their 21,550-seat Chase Stadium, has been a major road draw in 2025, regularly attracting record crowds across the country since Messi's arrival in 2023.

Al Ahly, backed by dozens of thousands of fans, got off to a strong start but wasted two early chances and Ustari parried away Trézéguet's poorly taken penalty kick after Zizo was fouled in the box by Telasco Segovia.

Messi threatened at times after spending some time on the ground after being hit on the knee, but Miami could feel lucky not to be behind at halftime.

"I'm disappointed with the result. We could have taken all three points. We respect Inter Miami and their big-name players, but we could've finished the game in the first half by scoring three or four goals," Al Ahly forward Wessam Abou Ali said.

Miami, however, stepped up a gear after the break, and Messi came close when his nicely curled 25-yard free kick kissed the post and hit the side netting.

With six minutes left, the World Cup winner scooped a perfect cross for Fafà Picault, whose header was tipped over the bar by Mohamed El Shenawy.

He came an inch close in the dying second when his curled strike from outside the box was tipped onto the bar by El Shenawy.

"I think happy with the performance, much better in the second half," Miami head coach Javier Mascherano told DAZN. "In the second half, I think we created chances, we controlled the game and we had the chances to score and win the game

"Maybe in the first half we were excited, we were nervous, we didn't move the ball from one side to the other. So we tried to translate to the players to be calm, we have to keep possession, we can find the spaces to attack better."

The Club World Cup continues Sunday with Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain taking on Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich playing Auckland City.

Information from ESPN's Lizzy Becherano, Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.