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MLS Analysis

Thoughts & Analysis: Inter Miami & Vancouver win convincingly, set up fitting final

MLS Cup in 2025 will see Inter Miami host the Vancouver Whitecaps in what Brian Sciaretta says is between the league's most talented team and the league's best coached team
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
December 01, 2025
8:00 AM

THE CONFERECE FINALS took place over Thanksgiving weekend, and the results were convincing. It left us with a final between two very deserving teams that should make for an intriguing game. The East will be represented by the most talented team in the league in Miami and the West will be represented by a Vancouver team that is the best coached and most cohesive unit in MLS.

Unlike in years past, the 2025 final is not the result of teams who simply got hot at the end of the season or in the playoffs. Both Miami and Vancouver are the best teams in their respective conferences at this point of the season. At some point in each of their respective playoff runs, both had to come up with big road wins and both easily succeeded.

Here are some thoughts about it all:

 

Inter Miami 5-1 New York City

 

Entering this game, the biggest priority for NYCFC was to somehow limit Lionel Messi, who (stating the obvious) can beat teams by himself. But think about this, NYCFC kept Messi from scoring and held him to less than 50 touches over 90 minutes.

If that happens, you’d think NYCFC might have a chance. Instead, they lost 5-1.

This was an extraordinary muscle flex from Inter Miami. Even if Messi doesn’t score, Tadeo Allende can also score hat trick. Matteo Silvetti and Telasco Segovia can also bag goals. Jordi Alba can notch two assists.

Yes, we haven’t always seen this version of Inter Miami – even with all the players mentioned above. But right now, Inter Miami is almost scoring at will. What they are showing right now is what makes great players so great – even if older. Great players who have led teams to Champions League and World Cup titles know how to play better when the games get more important. MLS regular season in the middle of the year is one thing. But the stretch run and playoffs are different.

At a time when you’d think older players might get fatigued from a long season, Inter Miami has scored 30 goals in their last eight games. That includes one bad outing, a 2-1 loss to Nashville in the second leg of the playoffs. In the other seven games, they’ve scored three goals once. In the other six games they’ve scored four or more goals.

Inter Miami players likely heard the questions over the team coming up short most times since Messi arrived. The 2023 Leagues Cup run was nice, but there was the early playoff exit in 2024, the two CONCACAF Champions Cup losses in 2024 & 2025, and the 2025 Leagues Cup final loss to Seattle that wasn’t close.

For this Miami experiment to be successful, the team needs to win MLS Cup. These players simply shifted to a higher gear that few can match.

NYCFC was just overwhelmed from the opening kickoff. Yes, this team is missing very important players, but Andres Perea, Alonso Hernandez, and Keaton Parks were never going to change this result.

Of course, the playoff format is tricky because one slip up or one bad game could be the end. But it seems like Inter Miami is getting what it paid for, master craftsmen who thrive in big games, and who are motivated to set a standard in this league for their club and their legacy.

 

San Diego 1-3 Vancouver Whitecaps

 

Jesper Sorensen did not win the 2025 MLS Coach of the Year, but he should have. The eventual winner, Bradley Carnell, had a great resume but Sorensen was even better.

The Vancouver Whitecaps began the season with the club for sale. Then in the opening weeks, the team’s best player for several years running, Ryan Gauld, suffered a serious injury.

Despite that, the Whitecaps ended up making a run to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final – with two wins in Mexico along the way. The team won the Canadian Championships.  Even needing to rotate squads, the Whitecaps scored the most goals in the Western Conference and finished in second place.

What speaks even more to Sorensen’s resume is his ability to coach players up. Due to his performances under Sorensen, Sebastian Berhalter played his way onto the U.S. national team where he has performed well and is in a good position to contend for a World Cup spot. Teenage left back Tate Johnson was playing NCAA Soccer just months before he was put into Vancouver’s starting lineup. Tristan Blackmon won the MLS Defender of the Year. Emmanuel Sabbi fell out with his French club before the season and gradually found a way to find another level. Ali Ahmed is also taking his game to another level and could have a big role for the Canadian national team at the World Cup.

Then you retain a consistently good MLS forward in Brian White, add a legend in Thomas Muller, and eventually get Gauld back – you have a remarkably deep and solid team who are responding well to their Danish coach.

This was on display against San Diego. Yes, it has been a great inaugural season for the Southern California club, but this game showed a gap between two the two teams.

San Diego finished with the best record in the West but benefitted from LAFC and Vancouver rotating their squads. When everyone is on equal footing, there is a noticeable gap.

While LAFC and Vancouver were building towards the playoffs. San Diego was still trying to figure things out. Mikey Varas benched Chucky Lozano at the end of the season and into the playoffs. When he brought the Mexican back, it was for a role off the bench. U.S international Luca de la Torre was an important part of the team to start the season but his role faded at the end of the season and into the playoffs.

With the task of taking on a surging or rising Vancouver team, that gap was apparent and Vancouver took control of this game early. White scored twice and Ahmed broke down the San Diego defense and eventually forced an own goal. Before the end of the first half, it was 3-0. This game showed just how well Sorensen has done with Vancouver. Unfazed by playing away in front of a hostile sold out crowd, San Diego played to its strengths and was able to see the game out easily.

One interesting note for Vancouver is that despite the big result, Muller didn’t play that well. Gauld, however, did when he was subbed into the game. It was the best he has looked since his return from injury. If it was any other set of players, Gauld might start in the final but right now Sorensen cannot take Muller out of the starting lineup. Like Miami, great players thrive in big games. You must bet on Muller, especially with the added motivation of going against Messi again.

 

Looking ahead to the final

 

Saturday’s final will have a lot of media attention with Messi looking for his first MLS Cup in front of a sold-out crowd. It will also be the last games for Jordi Alba and Sergio Busqets before their retirement. While Vancouver has won knockout games away this year - twice in Mexico and once in San Diego – this will be the hardest test.

Miami should be concerned. Vancouver is confident and Miami’s defense has been prone to ugly stinkers where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. Brian White is a top forward while Sabbi and Ahmed are athletic wingers. Muller and/or Gauld are not easy to defend.

These teams met earlier in the year in the knockouts of the CONCACAF Champions Cup and Vancouver won both legs comfortably. But Miami is playing considerably better right now. Those losses will only serve as motivation for revenge.

Miami is the clear favorite based on how they have played over the last eight games. It’s hard to see that momentum stopped in a final.

A Vancouver win is certainly possible, but it is going to require excellent set piece defending, avoiding conceding dangerous free kicks, smart transitional defending, and a lot of luck.  

It will be interesting to see how support breaks down for this game. Each team has its local fans and Miami will have an enthusiastic support at home. Among the global audience watching, most will want to see Messi win. He’s been the face of the sport for two decades and he has been very likeable – when not all superstars are. A few Europeans will pull for Muller – as will some who don’t like Messi.

Among long-time fans of MLS teams who are neutral in this game, Vancouver might have a lot support. They’ve been arguably the most likeable team in 2025 and they are fun to watch. There is also the preference to see teams rewarded for building a team as opposed to an organization that spends an outrageous amount of money on aging superstars. For many of these fans, Inter Miami has been a circus – a talented circus, but a circus, nonetheless.

Vancouver has been the best coached team, but talent wins most of the time. It would take something special for Vancouver to win this game in Florida but they’re probably the best bet at pulling off an upset such as this.

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