Toronto FC welcomes Messi's Inter Miami at new-look BMO Field in World Cup dress rehearsal

An Inter Miami-Toronto FC match at the new-look BMO Field on Saturday provided a dress rehearsal for the FIFA World Cup next month.

A sellout crowd of about 45,000 fans — including 17,000 spectators in the new grandstand seats that were added for the tournament — took in the Major League Soccer matinee.

Longtime TFC fan Trevor Ellis took a few moments before the game to walk to the top of the north grandstand to check out the view.

"It's almost the perfect seat, like the front row and the back row are both really cool in that way," he said. "You can see the entire pitch. The sightline is pretty good.

"You've got the skyline in the background and the lake — it looks beautiful."

A few thousand seats remained empty at kickoff as fans slowly made their way into the west-end Toronto venue near Lake Ontario's shoreline.

Many fans needed extra time to navigate lineups and the fencing around the stadium's perimeter as preparations continue ahead of Canada's World Cup opener June 12 against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The grandstand concourse area had a temporary outdoor tent feel. Outside the venue, the walk to the stadium felt like things were still a work in progress rather than a finished product.

"I think the structure had to look better than this, especially when you have people coming from other countries and comparing it to other stadiums, in North America, everywhere, in Mexico," said Jaime Garcia of Toronto. "I think the structure from the outside looks scary, to be honest with you."

The scaffolding-style grandstands were added to bring capacity up to the FIFA minimum. The grey flip-down seats offer a colour contrast to the sea of red in the regular seating area.

The steps are grippy but spectators in the upper reaches will