LIONEL Messi is up for a reunion with his former club Paris Saint-Germain after his Inter Miami side reached the last 16 of the Club World Cup with a 2-2 draw with Palmeiras in the early hours of today.
The Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw at Hard Rock Stadium, a result which secured both teams a place in the knock-out stages.
Goals from Tadeo Allende and Luis Suarez had Inter Miami on course for a second surprise victory in the tournament after their win over Porto.
But the Brazilian side struck twice in the last 10 minutes through Paulinho and Mauricio to make sure of their place in the next round.
Few expected Miami to make it out of the group but they now face the European champions while Palmeiras will have an all-Brazilian encounter with Botofogo.
For Messi, who celebrates his 38th birthday on Tuesday, the tie in Atlanta will see him face his former club PSG for the first time since leaving them to join Miami in 2023.
The result meant that Egyptian club Al Ahly and Porto were both eliminated despite producing a highly entertaining 4-4 draw at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
There were six Argentines in the Miami starting line-up which took the field in front of a large Brazilian contingent in the 60,914 crowd.
The travelling fans were on their feet in the opening minutes when Gustavo Gomez powered a header goalwards from a corner but Oscar Ustari was down well to save.
Inter Miami grabbed the lead in the 16th minute when Suarez brilliantly chested a long ball into the path of the on-rushing Allende who showed pace to break clear of the Brazilian defence and then composure to fire past Weverton.
Pepe fired in the 89th-minute equaliser for Porto to cap a wild 4-4 draw with Al Ahly in a Club World Cup match in the early hours of today in East Rutherford.
Wessam Abou Ali recorded a hat-trick for Al Ahly and Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane backed up his teammate by scoring the Egyptian club’s fourth goal of the night.
But Porto went punch for punch and drew level four separate times. With time dripping away, Pepe received a pass from Gabri Veiga and uncorked a right-footed shot from above the penalty arc that got past Al Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
Rodrigo Mora, William Gomes and Samu Aghehowa scored for Porto, and Claudio Ramos made six saves while dealing with Al Ahly’s 12 shots on target.
The entertaining contest turned out to be the last of the tournament for both teams. Palmeiras rallied to a 2-2 tie with Inter Miami for both sides to finish Group A play with five points.
Porto (two points) and Al Ahly (two points) will head home without a victory in the tournament; Al Ahly will land in last place in the group based on goal differential.
Abou Ali opened his high-scoring night by rolling in a sharp-angle shot from the left of the six-yard box, knocking it in off ....
He gave Al Ahly a 2-1 halftime lead by depositing the spot kick into the bottom left corner of the goal. And just one minute after Gomes tied the match, Abou Ali scored his third goal on a header off Mohamed Hany’s cross.
Aghehowa did not wait long to make it 3-3 on a header of his own, as he leapt and powered one in on a corner kick by Fabio Vieira.
Ben Romdhane broke through in the 64th with a right-footed blast from the top of the 18-yard box, assisted by Achraf Bencharki.
Meanwhile, the biggest casualty of the tournanent in the United States of America so far are Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish side were eliminated from the competition despite their laboured 1-0 victory over Botafogo on Monday night.
Antoine Griezmann scored the only goal in the 87th minute as Atletico Madrid finished third on goal difference in Group B behind PSG and Botafogo, with all three garnering six points.
RESULTS
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Botafogo
Seattle Sounders 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain
FC Porto 4-4 Al Ahly
Inter Miami 2-2 Palmeiras
With agency reports