Lionel Messi continued his impressive form with Inter Miami, scoring three goals and assisting another in his team’s 5-2 victory over Nashville in the final round of the MLS main stage.
The Flea’s hat-trick helped Inter Miami advance to the playoffs, which determine the MLS champion. His team finished third in the Eastern Conference with 65 points, on goal difference behind second-place Cincinnati and one point behind leaders Philadelphia.
Thanks to his hat-trick in Nashville, Messi’s MLS goal tally reached 29, officially crowning him the competition’s top scorer and receiving the Golden Boot, ahead of Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga and Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge (both 24 goals).
All 29 goals from Lionel Messi’s MLS Golden Boot-winning season ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/y7hUB31KCu
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 19, 2025
This is the ninth time Messi has won the league’s top scorer award in his career, having previously won it eight times with Barcelona in La Liga. Now, he has won the title for the first time in his third season in MLS.
La Pulga has become the first player to win both the MLS Golden Boot and the European Golden Boot.
The World Cup winner is also the first player in MLS history to score more than one goal in 10 games in a single season, and the third player since 2025 to score at least 29 goals in MLS.
It is worth noting that Messi’s total contributions this season in MLS have reached 48 goals, with 29 goals and 19 assists, making him the second player in the competition’s history to lead the rankings in both goals and assists, and he also has the second-highest number of overall goals in a single MLS season.
Messi’s next challenge will also be against Nashville, where he will face Inter Miami three times in the playoffs, with the winner of the most head-to-head matches advancing to the next round.
