Messi scores his first goals since the World Cup in Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup win

Messi scores his first goals since the World Cup in Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup win

Economy World


For the first time since the World Cup, Lionel Messi is back on the scoresheet. And he’s done it in a competition he has previously owned.

Messi scored twice in Inter Miami’s Leagues Cup-opening 4-2 win over Atlético de San Luis. He also added an assist in his club’s first opening-phase game of the competition pitting MLS clubs against Liga MX counterparts. It was in the 2023 Leagues Cup that Messi made his Miami debut in storybook fashion, scoring on a free kick in stoppage time to deliver his new club a win over Cruz Azul.

Three years later, neither the stakes nor the scenes were that dramatic, but after Miami blew a lead and settled for a draw in Messi’s return to MLS play over the weekend, Wednesday night’s triumph was a welcome development.

Messi scored Miami’s first in the 11th minute with a beautiful first-time volley off Noah Allen’s cross from the left. Messi’s goal, coming after an early Miami concession, brought the hosts level.

In the 44th minute, Messi struck again to give Miami a 3-1 lead. Again it was off a cross from the left by Allen, with Yannick Bright’s dummy leaving Messi with enough time and space from close range to pick out his spot.

Messi tacked on his assist just before halftime, with defender Micael heading in his corner kick to make it 4-1.

Messi’s goals gave him sole possession of the Leagues Cup all-time scoring mark until LAFC’s Denis Bouanga matched him later in the night in a match against Chivas de Guadalajara. Of Messi’s 14 career Leagues Cup goals, 10 came in that seminal first tournament in 2023, which announced the Argentine’s arrival in the U.S. and was capped by his first trophy lift here.

His chance to add No. 15 and beyond comes Saturday against Monterrey, a team that just double-dipped in the MLS transfer market for some top talent in Diego Rossi and Hugo Cuypers, with the latter still tied for the MLS lead in goals (13) after a scorching pre-World Cup run with the Chicago Fire. Monterrey will need the win to salvage its chances after a 2-1 defeat to Orlando City on Wednesday, with new star signing Antoine Griezmann scoring again for the Lions.

Miami’s final opening-phase match will come against León — an impressive 1-0 winner over MLS Supporters’ Shield leader Nashville SC — next Wednesday.

In Leagues Cup, 18 MLS qualifiers and all 18 Liga MX teams feature and play against opponents from the opposite league for the first three games but are placed in a single table with teams from their own league. After that stretch, the top four MLS teams and top four Liga MX teams advance to the quarterfinals, which are also interleague matchups in which the highest-seeded team from one league plays the lowest qualifier from the other, and vice versa. The finalists qualify for the following season’s Concacaf Champions Cup, and the winner bypasses into the CCC final 16.