Mascherano, 40, is a former teammate of Miami star Lionel Messi. The two were teammates at FC Barcelona from 2010-18.
Miami had won the regular season campaign with a record points total but after losing twice in the best-of-three series, the MLS Cup favourites and their eight-times Ballon d'Or winner are out.
Portuguese winger Xande Silva blasted home a sensational winner for Atlanta in the fourth minute of stoppage time in front of 68,455 home fans at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium to level the best-of-three postseason series 1-1 and set up a winner-take-all game three in Miami next Saturday.
Miami started with all their big-name stars, including Lionel Messi, on the bench but the Argentine was introduced in the 61st minute to the delight of many in the Toronto crowd.
Messi had been subdued until the 45th minute when he put Inter ahead -- chesting down a long ball into the box and getting a lucky bounce off Crew defender Malte Amundsen before poking home.
Messi tied Saturday's match in the 67th minute when he lasered a shot from beyond the box that evaded diving Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina to make it 1-1.
Inter Miami's charge towards Major League Soccer's single-season points record suffered a setback on Saturday after a last-gasp injury-time equalizer from James Sands snatched a 1-1 draw for New York City FC against the Eastern Conference leaders.
The Argentinian superstar Messi came close to a game-clinching goal in the 83rd, but his angled effort was blocked by Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan and Suarez's attempt to tap in the rebound was also denied.
The eight-times Ballon d'Or winner hadn't played since injuring his right ankle during the Copa America final on July 14, when he helped Argentina to victory over Colombia.
The 35-year-old will sign a two-and-a-half year deal worth $50 million to $60 million per year with an option to extend until 2026, according to the Miami Herald
MLS is not subsidizing the contract, and Messi will not have the same option to buy an MLS team that David Beckham received when he moved to MLS in 2007, Sportico reported. That option turned into Inter Miami, of which Beckham is a co-owner
Messi, the Argentina captain, last week announced he would join the MLS side after reaching the end of his two-year deal with French giants Paris Saint-Germain.
Dinner, drinks and a selfie with Lionel Messi sounds like every football fan's dream, but Chinese police have warned it's just one of numerous scams surrounding his visit to Beijing.
According to Google, the country that searched ‘Inter Miami’ most this week was Bangladesh after the Argentine superstar Lionel Messi announced that he will join the American Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami.
"I knew he would come here, we had already talked about it. I told him he would be happy in Miami", said Neymar, who played alongside Messi at Barcelona from 2013 to 2017 and then for the last two seasons at PSG
Fans of football in the United States have gone into a frenzy since the announcement that Lionel Messi would be taking his talents to Inter Miami. The euphoria is something that has not been witnessed previously and is expected to usher in a new era of interest in the sport that is still growing in the nation.
On Wednesday morning, Inter's account had around 900,000 followers, a number which had already grown amidst rumours of Messi's possible arrival and less than 24 hours after the news broke, that number had skyrocketed to 5.7 million followers
"He hasn't had a good time in these two years (in Paris) and now he doesn't want that type of pressure," Xavi said on Twitch
The great Argentine forward announced on Wednesday he had decided to join the MLS side and play for a club outside Europe for the first time in more than 20 years, though he told Mundo Deportivo and Sport newspapers the deal was not 100% done
