Nashville SC vs Inter Miami CF
MLS Regular Season | Matchday 38
Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 | 5:00 p.m. CT
GEODIS Park | Nashville, TN
Broadcast Details
Watch | MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
Listen | 104.5 The Zone
On the back of a two-week international break reset and a U.S. Open Cup trophy ceremony, Nashville SC returns to GEODIS Park for its final match of the MLS regular season Saturday evening against Inter Miami CF. The Boys in Gold (sixth place, 54 points) have had their playoff status secured since late September but now eye the opportunity to earn a more favorable seed and additional matches at home in the MLS Cup Playoffs with a win.
Key Storylines
A Table in Flux
Unlike the unsettled Western Conference, which has four teams still alive for the final two playoff spots, the Eastern Conference has known its postseason participants for weeks. But the Eastern still has plenty of chaos heading into Decision Day, with ninth place and fourth place separated by only five points. The compressed nature of the table means Nashville, sitting sixth on 54 points, could leap as high as fourth or drop as low as eighth, depending on results around the league.
Because it is mathematically impossible for the Boys in Gold to fall lower than eighth, even if every team below them wins, GEODIS Park is guaranteed to host at least one playoff game for the first time since 2023. But should Nashville win against Miami, Charlotte lose against Philadelphia and New York City drop points against Seattle, it would earn home-field advantage for two of its potential three first-round games, and potentially further games if top seeds are upset.
Familiar Company
A quirk of the Eastern Conference table and the timing of Nashville’s match against Miami is that should both teams stay exactly where they are when the Decision Day dust settles, their next two (and potentially three) matches would all be against each other. Recent history favors the team from Florida, with Nashville’s last win against Miami coming in May 2023 at GEODIS Park, their first of three meetings that season that culminated a penalty shootout in the Leagues Cup Final. But this year, Nashville and Miami have in many ways run parallel.
Sam Surridge and Lionel Messi, on 23 and 26 goals respectively, have battled for the MLS Golden Boot all season and will continue to do so Saturday. Should Messi take both the top scorer and MVP award, he’d be the first player to do so since Hany Mukhtar in 2022. And with two of their best seasons on record behind them and a knockout tournament trophy in their cupboards, both believe they have the bona fides, no matter Saturday’s outcome, to make a deep MLS Cup run.
Series History + What's Next
As two of the more recent entrants into MLS — both teams played their inaugural seasons in 2020 — Nashville and Miami are no strangers to each other. There have been 15 previous matches between the two clubs in all competitions, with Miami edging the all-time series 6-4-5. But Nashville holds the narrow edge in aggregate goals scored, netting 20 times to the South Florida club’s 19.
With so much potential drama on the final matchday of the regular season, Nashville’s next opponent and game time is up in the air. Should it fall to eighth place, it would host the Eastern Conference Wild Card match on Wednesday, Oct. 22. Otherwise, its next match will be the first of a best-of-three-game series in the MLS Playoffs first round, beginning sometime between Oct. 24-29.
Nashville SC has Clinched a Spot in the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs
Our first opponent will be determined on MLS Decision Day on October 18th, but playoff tickets are on sale now!
