‘There are no words' – Lionel Messi and his record-breaking scoring for Inter Miami

New York Times

4 days ago

Two years into his time with Inter Miami, Lionel Messi remains the game-changing superstar he has been throughout his career.
Messi, who won the MLS Most Valuable Player award in 2024 with 20 goals and 16 assists in just 19 games played in the regular season, seems intent on increasing his output this year. Miami set the record for most points in a season last year en route to the Supporters' Shield, and the club is again on pace to finish first atop the regular season standings thanks to Messi's recent form.
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Entering Wednesday night's match vs. FC Cincinnati, Messi has scored multiple goals in five consecutive regular-season games, the first player in MLS history to do so. No other player had ever done it in four. You'd be forgiven for having it slip out of your focus, as the streak straddles the Club World Cup.
Messi scored two goals in a pair of wins over CF Montréal and the Columbus Crew on May 28 and May 31, respectively. Miami then played four games in the FIFA Club World Cup, with Messi's free kick goal against Porto earning MLS their only win in the tournament and ensuring that Miami would be the only MLS team to advance to the knockout stage.
53' ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? 🐐
Messi scores a GORGEOUS free kick goal and @InterMiami are now leading 2-1 versus @FCPorto!
Watch the @FIFACWC | June 14 – July 13 | Every Game | Free | https://t.co/i0K4eUtwwb | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld #MIAFCP pic.twitter.com/KvshKKFrrY
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) June 19, 2025
Since returning to MLS play, Messi has seemed intent on making a statement as rumors swirl about his future — even as sources close to Miami and the player have insisted that he is nearing an extension to remain in South Florida.
Messi has scored two goals in each of his last three games — all wins — over Montréal, the New England Revolution and Nashville SC.
That lifts Messi's season tally to 16 goals — tied with Nashville's Sam Surridge for the league lead — and seven assists in 16 games played.
While Miami is five points back of the Philadelphia Union, who sit in first place in the Supporters' Shield table, it has three games in hand. Miami is setting the pace with two points per game — ahead of the Union's 1.95 pace – and is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games, having not lost in MLS play since May 17. It's riding a five-game winning streak, which coincides with Messi's latest goal binge.
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'There are no words. What he continues to do is incredible — breaking records every three days,' Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said after the Nashville win. 'It's what I have said a thousand times in this room: He's the flagbearer of this team, he sets the standard for how we compete, he is the leader, the one who obviously encourages his teammates, shows them how we have to keep going, and, above all, maintain at this moment the tone we are setting.
'It's a blessing to be part of this stage of his career.'
While the goal tally is remarkable in itself, how it has been achieved is even more so.
The shot map below showcases the wide range of strikes by Messi, including five from outside the box — more than 22 of the 30 MLS teams have managed in their entire campaigns.
And it was a long-range effort that kickstarted the multi-goal streak in Miami's 4-2 victory over Montréal in May. Scored in typical Messi fashion, he quickly shifted the ball to create an opening, aided by teammate Sergio Busquets, who cleverly blocked the onrushing Montréal midfielder Victor Loturi, before Messi curled a precise shot into the bottom corner.
The second also came from his repertoire of trademark finishes. No player has perfected the dinked finish quite like Messi and his uncanny ability to generate the perfect loft, regardless of the goalkeeper's proximity or height, was on show again as he dinked the ball over Jonathan Sirois from close range.
For all his ability, a streak like this can't persist without a healthy dollop of good fortune. In the following match against Columbus Crew, Messi was gifted his first goal thanks to some disastrous goalkeeping from Nicholas Hagen.
The Guatemalan 'keeper made a costly error, miscuing a goal kick straight into Messi's path on the edge of the area. Messi gave Hagen the chance to atone for his blunder with an uncharacteristically underhit lob, but the goalkeeper only managed to palm it goalward. He was less charitable with his second 10 minutes later, this time his lob from just inside the area was perfectly calibrated.
He kept the streak alive with a brace in his next match, again against Montréal. No player has completed more take-ons than Messi's 3.9 per 90 minutes in MLS this season, and both goals against Montréal demonstrated the jinking movements that continue to make him so feared throughout the league.
The first saw the Argentine dart into the area and swiftly shift his body weight to carve out space for another arrowed finish into the far bottom corner, but it was the second that was truly breathtaking.
Picking up the ball from Luis Suárez near halfway, Messi embarked on a long, mazy dribble, leaving a trail of confusion as bamboozled Montréal defenders collided while trying to stop him. He evaded them at every turn before rifling a shot into the top corner from close range.
Ankara Messi, Ankara Messi, Ankara Messi Ankara Messi, Ankara Messi . 🐐 pic.twitter.com/DsvmC73hns
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 6, 2025
After two relatively routine efforts, in his next match, a 2-1 victory against New England, there was one glaring omission in his scoring streak: a free kick. Against Nashville, he duly obliged, opting for measured placement over whipped power, as he guided an effort from the edge of the area into the bottom-left corner. After this and his staggering effort against Porto in the Club World Cup, he's now up to a staggering 69 career free kicks.
Leo en su idioma. 🔊
¡El golazo de tiro libre de Messi vs. Nashville en español!
🎙️ @brunovain pic.twitter.com/pd5SYLOxyF
— MLS Español (@MLSes) July 16, 2025
This phenomenal streak has been a self-contained showreel of the myriad ways Messi can put a ball into the back of the net.
And based on this evidence, he's far from done.