Inter Miami CF II wrapped up its 2026 MLS NEXT Pro campaign with a season focused on player development, professional experience and strengthening the pathway from the Inter Miami CF Academy to the First Team. Throughout the campaign, the Club’s second team provided a competitive environment for emerging talent to take the next step in their careers while continuing to embody the Club’s Freedom to Dream philosophy.
Here’s a closer look at the key storylines from Inter Miami II’s 2026 season:
Academy Representation
The connection between the Inter Miami Academy and Inter Miami II remained a defining aspect of the 2026 campaign. Of the 43 players who featured for Inter Miami II this season, 39 were developed through the Club’s Academy, highlighting the strength of the player development pathway.
Academy-developed players also accounted for 96% of the team’s 27,699 total minutes played this season, underscoring Inter Miami II’s role as an important platform for young players to gain valuable professional experience.
The pathway was further highlighted by 19 Academy players making their professional debuts during the campaign: Sloan Morrison, Rondell White, Matteo De Paula, Nash Dearmin, Jeremy Ortela, Zidane Cadet, Naej Desravins, Nessim Jena, Sean Gormley, Alex Padilla, Levi Williams, Lukas Barker, Leandro Padilla, Diego Matos, Matthew Perez, Matthias Vieux, Mohammed Jamhour, Mario Stoka and Sebastian Poller.
A Proven Pathway to the First Team
Beyond serving as a bridge between the Academy and the professional level, Inter Miami II continued to provide opportunities for players to earn recognition from the First Team.
Eight players — Ian Urkidi, Diego Rey, Idoh Zeltzer-Zubida, Alexander Shaw, Cesar Abadia, Preston Plambeck, Daniel Sumalla and Lovend’s Delinois — earned call-ups to the First Team during the 2026 season.
With six players — Daniel Pinter, Shaw, Abadia, Plambeck, Sumalla and Delinois — signing with the First Team. The 2026 campaign marked the highest number of Academy products signed to the Club’s senior squad in a single season.
Attacking Threat
Another defining storyline of the 2026 campaign was the continued emergence of forward Zeltzer-Zubida. The 21-year-old enjoyed a breakout season, recording 10 goals and one assist to become just the third player in Inter Miami II history to reach double digits in goals in a single MLS NEXT Pro season.
Zeltzer-Zubida joined an exclusive group that includes Shanyder Borgelin, who scored 14 goals during MLS NEXT Pro’s inaugural 2022 season, and Mateo Saja, who recorded 11 goals in 2025. The forward’s 10-goal campaign also established a new career high and saw him finish the season as Inter Miami II’s leading scorer.
