New York City vs Inter Miami in Queens

Game Day Essentials

• Matchday 5: New York City FC vs Inter Miami CF

• Date and Time: Sunday, March 22, 1:00 pm ET

• Venue: Citi Field

• Forecast: Weirdly warm, chance of rain late, 60F/16C

• Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV 

• Apple Broadcast Team: Steve Cangialosi and Danny Higginbotham (English), Alejandro Figueredo and Tony Cherchi (Spanish)

• New York City FC Radio: Glenn Crooks and Matty Lawrence (English), Roberto Abramowitz and Ariel Judas (Spanish)

• Officiating Crew: Armando Villarreal (referee), Jeremy Hanson and Tyler Wyrostek (assistant referees), Marcos DeOliveira (4th official), Lukasz Szpala and Craig Lowry (VAR)

• Kits: New York City will wear the sky-blue Excelsior Kit; Miami will wear the black-and-pink Presagio Kit

It’s Matchday 5, and New York City FC are back at Citi Field for the first time this season as they host Inter Miami CF in a grudge rematch of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs. In case you forgot, NYCFC lost that game 5-1 — the match was closer than what the scoreline suggests, but the result brought an ill-tempered end to the club’s season.

That was then. New York City now sit on top of the Eastern Conference table – two spots above Miami – after going undefeated in the first four games of the 2026 season, winning three and drawing one to collect 10 points. This run of games matches the best start in club history, and brought Pascal Jansen to 20 regular-season wins as New York City head coach.

Miami aren’t far behind, sitting in Third Place in the East with seven points. Miami’s only loss came on opening day when they were dismantled by LAFC 3-0 in front of 75,673 at the LA Coliseum. Miami might be the most expensive team in Major League Soccer history, but they haven’t exactly dominated the competition. Not only did they lose to LAFC, they drew Charlotte FC 0-0 on the road in Matchday 4, and drew Nashville SC twice to crash out of the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup. That brings Miami’s record in all competitions to a solid if not exceptional 2W-3D-1L.

Even then, Miami remain the biggest box office draw in the league. Every section of the 41,922-capacity Citi Field will be open for this game — will today’s matchup challenge the 40,845 who were in attendance for the 4-0 loss to Miami last September? That game saw New York City’s largest crowd at Citi, and the fourth-largest crowd in club history.

This could be a game decided by travel schedules. New York City will be playing at home for the third straight game, with the entire squad staying put since returning from Philadelphia on March 1. Miami, on the other hand, played all four of their league matches on the road while Nu Stadium is being finished, and had two midweek games against Nashville in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

Or it could be decided by coaching: While Jansen will be in the technical area for New York City, Javier Mascherano will be in the stands after earning two yellow cards in quick succession from referee Guido Gonzales Jr. at the end of the scoreless draw with Charlotte last week.

Also missing: Defender Maximilian Falcon, whose Jedi mind tricks earned Maxi Moraelz a yellow card last November, and midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, aka Mr Congeniality.

Referee Armando Villarreal will oversee the game. The MLS veteran might be familiar to local fans from his many years of service, but he only officiated one NYCFC game in 2025, the 0-0 road draw with DC United in Matchday 13. Former New York City goalkeeper Luis Barraza was in the net for DC that night and played the game of his life, making five saves to log a clean sheet against his former team. Coincidentally, Barraza will be on the Miami bench tonight after signing with the club to serve as the backup to superstar goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who joined from Minnesota United in the offseason.

New York City vs Miami H2H

G
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD

14
7
4
3
23
20
3

New York City dominate the historic head-to-head between the two clubs, but Miami have run over NYCFC the last two times these clubs met: The 5-1 thumping in the Eastern Conference Final came on the heels of a 4-0 romp at Citi Field in Matchday 31. New York City’s record in the last five played is 0W-3D-2L, with five goals scored and 13 allowed.

New York City’s last win came on October 17, 2022, when Nick Cushing’s squad dismantled a pre-Messi Miami 3-0. That is, unless you count New York City’s 2-1 win in Noche d’Or, an exhibition game played after the end of the 2023 regular season that was meant to celebrate Messi’s eighth Ballon d’Or.

New York City Scouting Report

• Player Availability: Andrés Perea (leg), Alonso Martínez (knee), and Malachi Jones (leg) are all still out.
• Will the “Nico: No 9” experiment work against this Miami defense? The midfielder now has four goals in four games – and could have five, but he let Maxi Moralez take the penalty against Orlando that he earned. But Miami have one of the league’s best goalkeepers in St. Clair, and a defense that’s well versed in the dark arts.
• Will Talles Magno see more minutes? The Designated Player is looking increasingly sharper with every game, and scored in the 3-1 win over Colorado, but he’s expected to start on the bench.
• New York City beat Philadelphia, Orlando, and Colorado by pressing high and scoring in transition. But none of those teams had an attack like Miami’s, which also pushed high and punishes you on the counter.
• NYCFC now have 11 goals in four games; it took them eight games to reach that mark in 2025. Also: New York City have seven goal-scorers; they didn’t get to seven goal-scorers in 2025 until Matchday 15, in the 3-1 win over Chicago Fire on May 26.

Miami Scouting Report

• Player Availability: Midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, defender Maximo Falcon (knee), and defender Sergio Reguilon (hamstring) are out.
• Will Mascherano orchestrate the game via his phone while he sits in the stands? That’s the current trend among European head coaches serving suspensions.
• Will Germán Berterame show up? The Mexico international was the club’s biggest offseason signing, joining for a reported $15 million fee, but a forward who had 50 goals in 114 appearances for CF Monterrey hasn’t added much to the Miami attack, with just one assist in four starts and one appearance off the bench in all competitions.
• Will Mateo Silvetti get the start over Tadeo Allende? According to Daniel Granada of The Battered Herons Podcast, Silvetti is Miami’s dangerman right now, and the key to the visitors getting a result. You can read more of the insights Granada shared with Matthew Mangam in “Oppo Research: 5 Things about Inter Miami.”