Lionel Messi Reaches New Career Milestone After Netting Hat-Trick for Inter Miami
- Lionel Messi has won his first Major League Soccer Golden Boot with 29 goals, the first in Inter Miami history
- The Argentina captain also set the MLS record for 10 multi-goal games in one season after final-day hat-trick
- Messi ends season with 48 goal contributions, second only to Carlos Vela’s 2019 record
Lionel Messi has once again rewritten football history, this time on American soil.
The Argentina captain capped off a record-breaking Major League Soccer (MLS) season by winning his first-ever Golden Boot after finishing the season with 29 goals.
Source: Getty Images
The Inter Miami star topped Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge and LAFC’s Denis Bouanga, who each netted 24 goals, to secure the top scorer award, marking yet another milestone in his extraordinary career.
Messi becomes Inter Miami’s first Golden Boot winner
In just his second season in the MLS, Messi has become the first Inter Miami player to win the league’s Golden Boot, GOAL reports.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup winner is also only the second Argentine in MLS history to achieve the feat, following Valentín “Taty” Castellanos, who scored 19 goals for New York City FC in 2021.
Messi’s incredible 29-goal haul also stands among the best individual scoring seasons in the league’s history, with only Josef Martínez (31 goals in 2018) and Carlos Vela (34 in 2019) have scored more in a single campaign since 2005.
Remarkably, Messi’s 28 non-penalty goals set a brand-new MLS record, surpassing the previous best by three.
Breaking records with a final day hat-trick
Messi’s final-day performance sealed his status as the league’s standout player.
Source: Getty Images
On “Decision Day,” he scored a remarkable hat-trick, his first of the MLS season, to lead Inter Miami to a memorable victory and claim the Golden Boot in style.
The 36-year-old also broke another long-standing MLS record by becoming the first player in league history to record 10 multi-goal games in a single season, per Dairo AS.
Messi overtook the previous joint record holders, Stern John (1998), Mamadou Diallo (2000), and Zlatan Ibrahimović (2019), who each managed eight.
His 29 league goals now rank as the 10th-highest scoring season of his career, with his unforgettable 50-goal 2011–12 La Liga campaign for Barcelona still standing as his all-time best.
A complete season of goals and assists
Beyond just scoring, Messi showcased his all-around brilliance in MLS, as he finished the season with 48 total goal contributions, 29 goals and 19 assists.
It is the second-highest in MLS history, trailing only Carlos Vela’s 49 in 2019.
Messi also became just the second player ever to lead the MLS in both goals and assists in a single season, joining Sebastian Giovinco, who achieved the same in 2015.
Messi sends classy message to Dembele
In another development, Legit.ng reported that Messi has sent a classy message to former Barcelona teammate Ousmane Dembele after he won the 2025 Ballon d'Or award.
Dembele picked up the award on a glittering night at the Theatre du Chatelet on Monday, September 22, 2025, ahead of top contender Lamine Yamal.
Source: Legit.ng
