MLS Cup Round 1: Messi scores brace as Inter Miami beats Nashville SC in series opener

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi scored twice to lift Inter Miami to a 3-1 victory over Nashville SC in the opening match of the first round of the MLS Cup on Friday.

Tadeo Allende also scored for Inter, which took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series with game two in Nashville on November 1.

Eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi was awarded the Golden Boot before the match after topping the regular season scoring charts with 29 goals in 28 matches.

He wasted no time in demonstrating how he deserved it, putting Miami ahead 1-0 with a header from Luis Suarez in the 19th minute.

Sergio Busquets had gained control of the ball on the touchline and passed to Rodrigo De Paul.

De Paul found an attacking Messi, who passed the ball to Suarez on the right and pressed forward to connect as Suarez returned the ball.

Allende’s header after a pass from Ian Fray gave Miami a 2–0 lead in the 62nd minute.

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Messi sealed the win nine minutes into stoppage time when Nashville keeper Joe Willis lunged forward to stop a ball from the left wing but failed to contain it, sending Messi home.

That meant that Hany Mukhtar’s goal in the eleventh and final minute of stoppage time was nothing more than window dressing.

The win comes a day after Messi signed a three-year contract extension that will keep the 38-year-old in Florida until 2028.

That was music to the ears of MLS commissioner Don Garber, who was on hand to present Messi’s Golden Boot.

“I don’t think we ever imagined that Leo could do something like this for this club, for this city and for this league,” Garber said.

«He reset the trajectory for Major League Soccer, and we were already doing quite well. And I think it’s a gift again to have three more years,» he added.

Published on October 25, 2025