ATLANTA — Lionel Messi fans in pink No. 10 shirts, and some in Argentina’s iconic striped jerseys, showed up at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday afternoon for a chance to see their idol and his Inter Miami teammates play in a pivotal game against Portuguese club FC Porto in the Club World Cup.

They left happy and chanting his name after the 37-year-old Argentine icon scored on a free kick in the second half to lead Miami to a historic 2-1 win in Group A.

Inter Miami’s win on Thursday was the first ever by a Concacaf team against a European team in a FIFA club competition. With the victory, Inter Miami moves into second place in the Group A standings behind Palmeiras heading into a Monday showdown against the Brazilian power in the final group game at Hard Rock Stadium.

Inter Miami, the group underdog heading into the tournament, finds itself in position to perhaps advance to the Round of 16 depending on Monday’s result.

Palmeiras and Miami both have four points, but Palmeiras is in first because of its plus-two goal differential, while Miami is at plus-one. Inter Miami will advance to the knockout round with a win or a draw against Palmeiras, but could also advance with a loss if Porto and Al Ahly tie and goal differential works in Miami’s favor.

If two teams wind up tied in the standings, the tiebreaker, per FIFA rules, is goal differential and then total number of goals scored.

“This is a very big win for us,” Messi said in a post-match interview with DAZN.com as he stepped off the field. “It took a great effort from the whole team, everyone played well. Not only defensively, but in the first half and until the second goal we managed the ball very well. I’m very happy because we left the first game a little bitter after feeling we could have won that one. So, this is a very important victory for us.”

Coach Javier Mascherano congratulated his players for their performance against a traditionally strong European club that was favored to win by most experts.

“What I told them at halftime is that more than the result, I was proud of the courage with which they played, with and without the ball,” Mascherano said. “They understood today that in football there are hierarchies, and we played a prestigious team with international level players, but if we have conviction in what we have to do and have a plan, if we support each other and are together, but especially, if we dare to play, we can compete.

“Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. But more important to me was how they played.”

A small but spirited collection of Porto fans in royal blue and white shirts were also there for the occasion, and though they were outnumbered, they roared when their team took an early lead with a penalty kick by Spaniard Samu Omorodion at the eight-minute mark.

Head referee Cristian Garay called for the controversial PK after going to VAR and the ruling was that Noah Allen made contact with Porto’s Joao Mario in the penalty area. The Miami fans booed the decision, but the Porto faithful cheered for the result.

Mascherano said he was happy to see his team did not let that early goal throw them off course, and they maintained their composure.

Porto nearly doubled the lead in the 39th minute with a point-blank shot from Rodrigo Mora, but Miami defender Maxi Falcon made a huge clearance at the line with his head after the ball had slipped by goalkeeper Oscar Ustari.

Miami coach Javier Mascherano stressed in the leadup to the game that based on the tournament results so far, barring a few exceptions, perhaps the gap between the European clubs and the rest of the world is not as wide as anticipated. And for the first half of Thursday’s game, that certainly was the case.

Inter Miami, with a starting lineup that included local club academy products Allen, Ian Fray and Benja Cremaschi (all under 23 years old), strung together many good passing sequences, got deep into Porto territory, and held the Portuguese team scoreless from the run of play.

The game was 1-0 at halftime.

Then, two minutes into the second half, Telasco Segovia scored the equalizer for Inter Miami off a cross from Marcelo Weigandt. The crowd went crazy as Segovia proudly pulled his shirt out to show the cameras.

Then, it was time for some Messi magic. The Argentine legend and Miami captain went down at the edge of the box and was awarded a free kick. He cranked the ball into the upper right corner at the 54-minute mark, past goalkeeper Claudio Ramos’ outstretched arms, and put Miami ahead 2-1.

The entire Miami bench erupted, as did the pink-clad fans in the mid-afternoon weekday crowd of 31,783, as Messi’s teammates wrapped him up in a joyous group hug. He then pointed to the sky in memory of his late-grandmother.

“This is a historic day for our club, one everyone who works for the club should celebrate,” Mascherano said. “As for its significance, it means we are still alive in the competition and on Monday will will play for a chance to be in the Round of 16 in a FIFA club tournament, which is not a small feat considering where we came from. We haven’t won anything yet, but now we will try to rest, recover and give our best on Monday.”

Asked about Messi’s performance, the coach said: “More than his goal, he is the player who guides us in how we compete, his hunger, his resilience, his desire to keep competing at the level he is. From a football perspective, what can you say? He is the best player to ever play this game. What is surprising is his desire to win. [Thursday], though he was tired, he kept helping the team in any way he could to get the result. Having him gives us an advantage and his winning spirit is contagious.”

But, there was some bad news for Mascherano’s squad.

Inter Miami, which has dealt with injuries to key players all season, saw two more leave the field in pain on Thursday. Weigandt tried to hop off, but could not bear weight, so Ustari and Falcon helped him to the sideline.

Fray, who has overcome four knee surgeries, fell to the ground in the 79th minute and walked gingerly to the bench. Jordi Alba, returning from a three-week absence due to a hamstring injury, replaced Fray and Fafa Picault entered at the same time in place of Tadeo Allende.

After the opening Group A games over the weekend, Miami and the 30-time Portuguese champion Dragons were tied on points with Al Ahly and Palmeiras after earning one point with scoreless draws.

Palmeiras took control of the group Thursday afternoon with a 2-0 win over Al Ahly at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey. The game was suspended temporarily due to a thunderstorm, but it finished just before the Miami vs Porto game started.

There was also bad weather in the Atlanta area in the hours before kickoff, dampening some of the pre-game celebrations outside the stadium, but it did not affect the game because the stadium roof was closed.

The Miami Starting XI included Messi, Ustari (who had a brilliant game in the tournament opener), Weigandt, Fray, Falcon, Allen, Allende, Cremaschi, midfielder Sergio Busquets, Segovia and forward Luis Suarez.

Porto’s starters were: Claudio Ramos (in place of injured captain and goalkeeper Diogo Costa), Ze Pedro, Ivan Marcano, Martim Fernandes, Alan Varela, Rodrigo Mora, Moura, Joao Mario, Samu Omorodion, Gabri Veiga and Fabio Vieira.

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