The 37-year-old helped push the club to a 2-1 victory with his stunning free-kick goal in The Heron’s match against Porto on Thursday (06.19.25) in Atlanta, and Messi has now insisted Miami has proven it is ready to tackle the big European teams in the tournament.

Speaking with FIFA, Messi said: “I think they’re seeing that we’re here to compete, and today we competed against a strong European team.

“We made some silly mistakes in the first half the other day [against Al Ahly]. The younger players were a bit nervous because it was the first time they’d played in such a big, significant tournament. And I think we played well today.

“We were slow out of the blocks but we changed that in the second half. We’ll compete, we’ll try to play our game.

“We know that today we were the weaker team but we can hurt them. Next up we have Palmeiras, a great team and that’ll be another really tough match.”

After Miami went 1-0 down when Porto’s Samu Aghehowa scored a penalty in the eighth minute, Telasco Segovia equalized in 47th minute, with Messi then securing victory for Vice City when he shot a screaming free-kick past goalkeeper Claudio Ramos seven minutes later.

Reflecting on his goal, Messi said: “Well, I saw that the goalkeeper was stood in the middle of the goal and he was close to the goal, so it would be very difficult to get it over him.

“I took advantage of the space that he left there, because he stayed a bit more central. He didn’t cover his post so much, so I tried to put it there.”

After Miami’s victory - which marks the first time The Herons have won a match at the Club World Cup - manager Javier Mascherano insisted the club “can compete against any team in the world”.

He said during the post-match conference: “If we have a plan and stick together - and if we dare to play - we can compete.

“The way the team overcame the adversity of the match, staying true to our identity, was admirable. Everyone remained committed to what we’re trying to do.”