It is official: the Philadelphia Union will be in last place in MLS heading into a two-month World Cup break. Sitting on seven points heading into matchday 15, and the majority of teams in the league are playing their week's games before Philly, means the Union's maximum points will be 10 points. That's one point behind Sporting Kansas City and Atlanta United at the bottom of the MLS. With all that being said, this Union side, led by Bradley Carnell, has to take on a Messi-led Inter Miami side that has its sights on repeating as MLS Cup champions.
The MLS schedule makers likely thought they'd get a blockbuster match when they put the 2025 Supporters' Shield winners, Philadelphia, against the 2025 MLS Cup winners, Miami. They put it on the final day before the World Cup break, the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Too bad for them that this is a matchup of a team with ambitions of repeating in their quest for a trophy and one that self-destructed.
It's true that both of these teams have struggled to start the 2026 season, navigating the Concacaf Champions Cup (both teams fell in the Round of 16) and MLS play. However, the things that differentiate these sides are one, the payroll, and two, the ambition to make changes needed for the betterment of the team.
We know Messi earns more than most MLS teams, but this game is a matchup between the league's highest-paid player and the lowest-paid roster. In terms of direction, since CCC played, Miami hit a speed bump, fired their coach, and turned things around to make it to second in the East; Philly won once in 10 games, refusing to make any drastic changes to improve outcomes. It's all led to this matchup before the World Cup break.
Let's take a look at both sides and answer the question: Do the Union have any chance of getting points in this one?
Miami goes as Messi goes, and so far in 2026, the greatest player of all time has picked up where he left off in 2025. Some thought Messi might coast a bit after winning the MLS Cup with Miami last year, since he plans to have one last ride with Argentina at the World Cup this summer. That has not been the case. Through 13 MLS matches, Messi has 12 goals and five assists. He's in the mix for the Golden Boot yet again and seems hell-bent on running this Miami side.
After Miami crashed out of the Concacaf Champions Cup to Nashville, they failed to win their first two games at their new state-of-the-art stadium in early spring. This led to head coach Javier Mascherano to "step down." There were reports of arguments between Mascherano and the club's brass, and he picked things up and left. In his place, Angel Guillermo Hoyos has come in, and Miami has five wins, one draw, and one loss since.
The club will view its early-season blunders as failures, but it still has Messi and a long list of his high-profile friends on the roster. A win in the final match before the World Cup break would see Inter Miami sit just two points behind Nashville for the top spot in all of MLS. The best attacker in the world and his teammates will likely be salivating at the sight of last-place Union coming to Nu Stadium with a banged-up backline.
Bradley Carnell is still the head coach of the Philadelphia Union after his side scraped to secure a 1-1 home draw last weekend. He has been put in a very precarious situation in his second season in charge of the Union. The front office took away his best players and replaced them with players who have not hit the ground running. On top of that, this team has been plagued by injuries. This has left Philly's roster thin and lacking in confidence. Here's a look at how the Union could line up vs Miami.
Philadelphia Union projected Starting XI
GK: Blake
On top of a laundry list of injuries (seven players are on the injury report this week), Carnell took a long time to find his preferred starters for the wya he wants to play. The Union's press is a shell of what it was last year, and the team's defensive shape has been a total disaster. We all know the attack hasn't clicked either, and as a result, we see a last-place team. I don't expect Carneel to change tactics in this last game, which makes things a bit bleak for Philly.
If the Union is going to answer this question positively, they will need to do something they have not done all season: score the chances they create. Miami has conceded the same number of goals as Philly this season, so if the Union wants to enter a 57-day break on a high, they will need to put the ball in the back of the net a few times. This has been easier said than done for a team that is at the bottom of almost every attacking metric.
Should the Union actually score a few goals, they will need to hope a pieced-together backline will be good enough to stop the likes of Miami's high-caliber attackers. There is a chance that players going to the World Cup might not be on the pitch, which would mean that the Union's Danley won't have to follow around and stop Miami's Messi. However, even without the GOAT, Miami still has attackers who can easily unsettle this backline.
I expect Miami to come out and blow the brakes off this Union team. Philly is shorthanded and lacking confidence; there have been some games with more arguments among themselves than shots on target. This Union team is in danger of being the worst of all time in MLS. Their saving grace could be that an almost two-month break is right around the corner. Let's see if that break brings any organizational changes that benefit the club.
MORE: MLS Matchday 15 Preview: Last Matchday before the World Cup break!
