FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — This is how 2024 started for Inter Miami: Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, all former Barcelona teammates who won multiple titles together, side by side after the first official training of the new season .

And here is the latest scene: Messi, Suarez, Alba and Busquets sat together again on Wednesday evening, holding their latest prize: the Supporters Shield, the trophy awarded to the best regular season team in Major League Soccer.

Inter Miami will be the No. 1 seed for the MLS Cup playoffs, where the team is wrapping up that place with a 3-2 win at the Columbus Crew on Wednesday night. It was the most hyped regular season game this season, perhaps the most hyped in a long time.

“I’m happy,” Messi said. “Happy for this group.”

Messi scored twice to take his tally to 17 goals in 17 MLS games this season. Suarez scored the eventual winner for Inter Miami on Wednesday and goalkeeper Drake Callender made four saves, including one on a penalty late in the second half.

“We still have more goals to score in the play-offs,” Callender said.

Granted, what was handed out Wednesday isn’t the prize Inter Miami wants most — the MLS Cup is still the biggest — but the shield represents the biggest step yet for the franchise that sputtered for most of its first three seasons and then saw everything change. June 7, 2023 when Messi surprised many in the football world saying he came to South Florida to further his career.

The arrival of Messi, which was quickly followed by the arrivals of Busquets and Alba to Inter Miami, helped the team win the Leagues Cup for its first trophy last year. And when Suarez made his long-rumored move to club official in December, signing a one-year deal, Inter Miami’s place as favorites in the MLS Cup was further cemented.

So far, so good.

“The idea was clear from the start: to be protagonists, to want to control possession and to challenge opponents through our playing style,” Messi said. “Then key players arrived, growing the team even further in terms of gameplay, personality and competitiveness.”

At 20-4-8, Inter Miami has 68 points with two games left in the MLS season. In terms of playoff seed, those games are meaningless. In terms of league history, they are not.

With two wins – Saturday in Toronto and then Oct. 19 against New England – Inter Miami could finish with 74 points. That would break New England’s record of 73, set in 2021.

It is unclear how much Messi will play in either of the two remaining matches. Messi is expected to play for Argentina in World Cup qualifiers on October 10 (in Venezuela) and October 15 (in Argentina against Bolivia). Then having to fly back to the US and play again on October 19, even with the points record on the line, might seem like a bit much to ask a week before the MLS postseason begins.

“I believe that surpassing the points record is secondary,” Messi said. “Although we also have a great opportunity to make history in that area, I think it matters less.”

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