Messi, Müller and the title that eluded World Cup legends

The appeal of soccer leagues in countries that aren’t global heavyweights lies in the fact that they’re enticing stopovers for former stars who once amazed the world with the artistry at their feet. It’s no coincidence that Major League Soccer now hosts the greatest player in history, dazzling American fields with the spark he showed as a 20-year-old who once froze Barcelona and the Camp Nou in awe.

But the United States didn’t fling its doors open only after Lionel Messi arrived in 2023 – they had already been wide open a decade earlier, when the first wave of signings hit what was then a fledgling MLS in the 2000s. Legends came from Spain such as David Villa, but Italy and Brazil also became centers of attention for a US market eager to attract well-known names.

In short, there was a time when Andrea Pirlo, Kaká and Villa wore American club colors, though the trio shared something beyond their stint in US competition: the unfortunate reality of leaving North America empty-handed.

The summer that never came

From the moment those stars landed at New York City FC and Orlando City, they became box-office magnets and raised their teams’ level. Between Villa and Pirlo they combined for 81 goals and 39 assists from 2015 to 2018.

Their connection was the stuff of dreams for anyone who loves the sport – few ever imagined a midfield featuring Italy’s deep-lying maestro alongside Barcelona’s center forward. But in 2015, fans got the crossover they never dared to picture. In Pirlo’s debut with the Pigeons, he and Villa formed an instant partnership that helped the club from the Big Apple secure a 5–3 win against none other than Kaká’s Orlando City.

From Yankee Stadium came the intersection of three icons who changed world soccer forever… something that could repeat this December if Messi’s Inter Miami reaches the final against Thomas Müller’s Vancouver Whitecaps.

In fact, it’s worth noting that both the Argentine and the German have already surpassed Pirlo, Kaká and Villa combined. Across their seasons in MLS, that earlier trio never managed to reach the ultimate stage: the MLS Cup.

The closest came from New York’s representatives. Villa and Pirlo reached the Playoffs twice – 2016 and 2017 (Villa also made it in 2018). Both times they were stopped in the quarterfinals: a brutal 7–0 aggregate loss to Toronto in 2016, and a narrow 4–3 aggregate defeat to Columbus Crew in 2017.

Kaká, meanwhile, never reached the Playoffs with Orlando. Not even the time he devoted to being the Lions’ key attacking midfielder was enough. His best run came in his debut year, when he reached the US Open Cup quarterfinals before Chicago knocked them out 3–1.

A missing prize denied to other world champions

Messi is nearing four years since lifting the World Cup with Argentina at Qatar 2022, while his possible opponent, Müller, celebrated his own triumph 11 years earlier with the Germany squad that stunned Brazil in 2014.

The Bavarian recently said that the spirit of competition – the sense of history – is what pushes him toward a final against Messi’s team, mindful of the double score he still hopes to settle with the Argentine.

If an Inter Miami–Whitecaps clash comes to pass, the captain of the Herons will find himself fighting to put goals past a player who once haunted him. First in 2014, when he left Argentina as runner-up, and later in 2020, when Bayern Munich’s rout of Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals became one of the most painful defeats of Messi’s career.

And it’s precisely because of those memories that the player born in the district of Weilheim-Schongau would give everything he has. If the MLS Cup ends up being Inter Miami vs Vancouver Whitecaps, the world will see history unfold on every level – above all because both men would be stepping into the final that other world champions like Kaká, Pirlo and Villa never managed to reach.

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