For months, Inter Miami advertised Nu Stadium with one simple message: “We’re coming home.'” On Saturday, in a 2-2 draw with Austin FC that was the first official game at the stadium, the club finally made good on its promise the only way it knows how.

The arena was covered with pink lights before the match, while a tifo in the stands read “Aquí empieza una nueva eraqui,” meaning “Today starts a new era.” In the center of the pitch, Lionel Messi got the game underway and within 10 minutes, he scored the club’s first goal there in front of a stand that bears his name.

“To see this stadium come to life after years and years of trying to get this stadium up and running in Miami, is something that’s very special,” club co-owner and founder David Beckham said.

“I came to America and the MLS 20 years ago, and I made a lot of promises. Twelve years ago, I made a lot of promises again, announcing that I was coming to Miami. Today, it’s just a dream come true for us… Today I stand in our new home, we are champions of MLS and have the best player in the history of the game playing in Miami.”

It has been a long time coming for everyone involved with Inter Miami, but particularly for Beckham. His dream to build a Miami Dade-based stadium began in 2014, moments after MLS commissioner Don Garber officially awarded Beckham the expansion franchise. He envisioned a waterfront destination based in the heart of the city to build a 20,000-30,000-seater stadium.

Beckham’s first bid targeted land next to the Kaseya Center, the Miami Heat’s home, with views of Biscayne Bay and Downtown, but his initial efforts were quickly shut down by the city, forcing him to unsuccessfully chase leads in Little Havana and Overtown.

By 2018, Jorge and Jose Mas, founders of the Miami-based construction and engineering company MasTec, joined Inter Miami’s ownership and the search for a venue.

With no lease agreement in sight and the team’s MLS debut fast approaching, the new ownership group decided to remodel Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale as a temporary solution. After an almost $100 million facelift that included a training facility, several practice fields and a redone 20-000 seat stadium, Inter Miami prepared to debut at the then-newly named DRV PNK stadium.

But the push for a permanent home never stopped.

Beckham and the Mas brothers began conversations for the site of the Melreese golf course in 2018 after 60% of voters approved the referendum that authorized the city to negotiate and execute a 99-year lease. It then took another four years to be officially approved, but Beckham and the Mas brothers finally secured the site they craved.

“This is a dream come true,” club co-owner Jorge Mas said. “This has been a stadium that was born from a dream, which was to create a first-class stadium in my hometown to celebrate football. Miami is today a capital of the world, and it will be the capital of football, especially with our club, with our captain, Leo Messi.”

On the field, Austin FC spoiled the party early on as winger Guilherme Biro scored the first official goal at Nu Stadium in the sixth minute. That was until Messi got proceedings back on track with a well-weighted header. For the first time, but certainly not the last, the entire stadium chanted Messi’s name.

Beckham and Mas got their dream moment, but not the dream finish: It wouldn’t end without further setback: winger Jayden Nelson restored Austin’s early in the second half. It wasn’t until the final minutes of the game that a goal from Miami striker Luis Suárez, who converted at the back post from a corner, managed to salvage a point.

Suarez is one of the best players of his generation, but he has struggled with osteoarthritis in recent seasons and hadn’t scored in a competitive game since Oct. 11, 2025. His strike, then, came at just the right time. He could have had a winner moments later, too: Messi fired a free-kick at goal as the game ticked towards stoppage-time, and the ball bounced off the post before Suarez nodded it home. However, he was ruled offside, and the goal was disallowed.

A draw wasn’t the ideal start that Miami had in mind, but, like the rest of the Miami Freedom Park sports complex surrounding Nu Stadium, this team is a work in progress. “I believed in Miami, and Miami believes in us,” Beckham said.

For now, Miami will continue to seek its first victory in a city and a stadium they can finally call home.