Inter Miami’s MLS play-off hopes suffered a setback as they were beaten 4-1 by Chicago Fire, with Lionel Messi missing the game through injury.
Former Liverpool midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri scored twice for Fire and Maren Haile-Selassie also netted a double.
A record home crowd of 62,124 attended the match at Soldier Field in Chicago hoping to see Argentine World Cup winner and new MLS star Messi.
But the 36-year-old has only played once in seven games since 3 September.
Fire had offered a financial incentive for fans attending Wednesday’s match, saying they would give $250 (£207) credit towards “new memberships for the 2024 season” or $50 (£41) credit to “single-game ticket buyers”, with Messi set to miss the match.
They said fans would receive the credit “regardless of which players are able to make an appearance on the pitch”.
Messi, who signed for Miami in July after his contract with Paris St-Germain expired, watched his new club’s 2-1 defeat by Houston Dynamo in the final of the US Open Cup last week from the stands.
Inter Miami are 14th in the 15-team Eastern Conference and need to win all three of their next matches to have any chance of making the play-offs.
