One of the biggest rivalries in MLS makes its return to GEODIS Park next week: Nashville SC vs. Inter Miami in\u00a0the first leg of a\u00a0two-game\u00a0series in the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. Next Wednesday marks the fourth year in a row that Nashville and Miami will have met in a knockout competition. But\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0the first time they will go to war as reigning champions, holding the U.S. Open Cup and MLS Cup trophies, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s\u00a0a rivalry that has produced magnificent stakes\u00a0and even more magnificent spectacles\u00a0despite its youth.\u00a0Let\u2019s\u00a0look at how the\u00a0Boys in Gold\u00a0have fared\u00a0against their Eastern Conference rivals throughout their\u00a0history, alongside some of their greatest moments,\u00a0ahead of their latest marquee meeting.<\/p>\n
\n A pair of fierce foes\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nashville and Miami are\u00a0each other\u2019s\u00a0most common foe\u00a0throughout the clubs\u2019\u00a0history, playing 19 times\u00a0in all competitions since they debuted in MLS in 2020. The South Florida club holds the leg-up\u00a0in the all-time series ledger with nine wins to Nashville\u2019s five, with five draws sprinkled in between.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0early stages\u00a0of the rivalry were dominated by the Boys in Gold, winning two and drawing one of the three matches without conceding a goal against Miami in a condensed 2020 season. A 0-0 draw, 2-1 Miami win and a 5-1 Nashville thrashing followed in 2021, setting the stage for a rivalry that would only grow in prominence and competitiveness in the coming seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although recent matches have swung in the Herons\u2019 favor, the Boys in Gold have stayed competitive, scoring in every match except two (one loss, one goalless draw) since 2021.\u00a0They\u2019ve\u00a0also produced many memorable moments on the way, including a penalty-kick shootout to decide the 2023 Leagues Cup Final, a thrilling two-leg Concacaf Champions Cup last-16 clash in 2024 and a back-and-forth best-of-three first round battle in the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n Memorable moments\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 2023 Leagues Cup Final \u2014 both the most thrilling and most consequential single game played in either club\u2019s history\u00a0to that point\u00a0\u2014 was\u00a0perhaps the\u00a0game that most loudly announced the Boys in Gold on the continental stage. Having already dispatched longtime\u00a0rival\u00a0FC Cincinnati, Liga MX colossus Club Am\u00e9rica, Minnesota United and\u00a0CF\u00a0Monterrey in the knockout stage, Nashville and Miami met at GEODIS\u00a0Park both\u00a0hoping to secure their first-ever trophy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a0late-summer clash delivered on its\u00a0immense hype. Tournament golden-boot leader Lionel Messi netted in the first half for Miami but was soon canceled out by Nashville\u2019s Fafa\u00a0Picault\u00a0after\u00a0the break. The clubs, locked 1-1 after regulation,\u00a0proceeded\u00a0into a tense penalty shootout decided on the 11th\u00a0kick by each team\u2019s goalkeeper. While the Herons prevailed 10-9, the match\u00a0was close throughout, foreshadowing\u00a0the excitement and immense stakes future games would provide.<\/p>\n
Nashville and Miami\u2019s meeting in the\u00a0first leg of the\u00a02024 Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16\u00a0unleashed similar fireworks to the Leagues Cup Final seven months prior, this time with Nashville seizing the early advantage\u00a0at GEODIS Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jacob\u00a0Shaffelburg\u00a0found the net in the fourth minute to put his team up 1-0 before doubling the lead\u00a0with a\u00a0wonderstrike\u00a0in the 46th\u00a0minute,\u00a0defying\u00a0Miami\u2019s 72-28 possession advantage. Messi\u00a0and Luis Suarez each\u00a0grabbed a goal for the visitors in a\u00a0thrilling\u00a0ending, sending the teams into a decisive second leg in\u00a0Florida\u00a0tied 2-2.<\/p>\n
Last November\u2019s MLS Cup Playoffs clash in Music City was another showpiece event in the teams\u2019 budding rivalry, a win-or-go-home game 2 in a best-of-three Round-of-16 series. The Boys in Gold\u00a0shot off the blocks at GEODIS Park, claiming a 1-0 advantage inside 10 minutes through a Sam Surridge penalty and a 2-0 buffer after Josh Bauer scored off a corner before halftime. While Messi would net deep into regulation, Nashville held on for a famous win in front of a packed house, forcing the series to a decisive game 3.<\/p>\n
Next week\u2019s Champions Cup Round-of-16 first leg will be the\u00a0eighth knockout clash between the rivals, a remarkable record given the relative recency of both teams\u2019 jump to MLS. If\u00a0previous\u00a0matches have taught us anything,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0that this rivalry can produce masterpieces. Secure your spot today to\u00a0witness\u00a0the next one first-hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the biggest rivalries in MLS makes its return to GEODIS Park next week: Nashville SC vs.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124,83724],"class_list":["post-177158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-nshvsmia-03-11-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}