FORT LAUDERALE: The controversy over FIFA’s selection of Inter Miami in next year’s expanded Club World Cup was further exacerbated after their first-round exit from from the Major League Soccer playoffs.

Lionel Messi and Co lost 3-2 against Atlanta United in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference series at Chase Stadium on Saturday night. Messi looked to have rescued Miami after scoring a second-half headed equalizer but Bartosz Slisz won the game and the three-game series for Atlanta with a 76th-minute header.

The goal was scored while Miami defender Tomás Avilés was down on the field in his penalty area, with his teammates appealing for the referee to stop the game to allow him to receive treatment.

Messi twice had chances to level the score with free kicks, but on both occasions his efforts were blocked by the Atlanta wall as Miami fell victim to arguably the biggest upset in MLS playoff history.

Miami had been the playoffs’ top seed after setting an MLS record for most points in a season to earn its first Supporters’ Shield. But it fell short against an Atlanta side that finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, 34 points behind Miami, and qualified for the postseason only with a final-day win to clinch a wild-card spot.

Matías Rojas gave them the lead in the 17th minute but Jamal Thiare quickly equalised before Atlanta regained the lead within another two minutes through Thiare.

Atlanta will face Orlando City in the conference semifinals.

The loss extended Miami’s struggles in the MLS postseason, with the team co-owned by David Beckham still never progressing beyond the first round.

The South Florida team first featured in the MLS postseason in its inaugural 2020 season, losing 3-0 to Nashville in the play-in round. Two years later, the Herons fell 3-0 to New York City FC in the first round.

Miami missed the playoffs last season after Messi’s midyear arrival but expected far more this year with a full season of a team featuring not only eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi but his onetime Barcelona teammates Suárez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba as well as a former Barcelona coach in Martino.

Messi’s $20,446,667 in total compensation from Inter Miami this season was about $5 million more than the entire Atlanta payroll, and Inter Miami spent a league-high $41.7 million on payroll this season.

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