Massive applause, gentlemen! …Messi, is the king of goals in the MLS…
Lionel Messi crushed Nashville with a hat trick and an assist in Inter Miami’s 5-2 victory on the visiting field on the last day of the MLS regular season and thus the Argentine star took the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the American league.
Messi finished the regular season with 29 goals and 13 assists after having another performance at GEODIS Park in Nashville that helped Inter Miami finish in third place in the MLS Eastern Conference.
Now Inter Miami will once again be the rival of Nashville, sixth in the same conference, in the first round of the MLS playoffs, which is played in the best of three games.
It should be noted that Messi was once again the top scorer in a championship for the first time since the 2020-2021 season, when he was ‘Pichichi’ of the League with Barcelona.
The GOAT is experiencing a spectacular moment of form and finished the Emelesera season with 5 goals in its last two games. In his previous match, he had scored a double and provided an assist against Atlanta United.
3 goals. 1 assistant
Another unreal performance from the 🐐. pic.twitter.com/dbZIfNm1ie
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 20, 2025
Messi opened his great night in the 33rd minute, when he beat the Nashville goalkeeper with a left-footed shot from outside the area after a great personal action in the center of the field where, in the face of a long pass, he stopped the ball with his chest, took out two rivals and put the ball through the right post.
Nashville responded on the brink of half-time and turned the score around with goals from Englishman Sam Surridge, with a header, and Canadian Jacob Shaffelburg, with a close touch, but after the restart Messi resumed his scoring festival to the joy of Inter Miami.
The beloved “La Pulga” equalized from the penalty spot at the hour mark with a low shot that showed all its class, and then in the 67th minute, the young Argentine striker Baltasar Rodríguez completed the comeback for coach Javier Mascherano’s team.
Messi, who had scored a hat trick in MLS in 2024 against the New England Revolution, completed the hat trick in the 80th with another fantastic left-footed goal after a one-two with Jamaican full-back Ian Fray.
And, in addition, Messi put the cherry on top of his great recital with the assist with the outside of his left foot for the comfortable 5-2 of the Venezuelan Telasco Segovia, in a play in which he could also decide to define and go for poker.
In this way, the MLS celebrated “Decision Day” this Saturday, on its last day. The first in the Eastern Conference was the Philadelphia Union, already winner of the Supporters’ Shield for the best team in the regular season, with 66 points.
Cincinnati beat Montreal 3-0 and finished in second position, ahead of Inter Miami itself (although both with 65 points on the table).
Before the start of the playoffs, the MLS will hold a play-in this Wednesday, with the Chicago Fire hosting Colombian coach Óscar Pareja’s Orlando at Soldier Field.
InMESSIonant
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami star, won the 2025 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi, scoring a total of 29 goals and becoming the league’s top scorer in his second full season with “las Herons.”
Messi also contributed 19 assists to surpass LAFC forward Denis Bouanga (24 goals) and Nashville SC attacker Sam Surridge (24 goals).
He is the first winner of the Golden Boot in the history of Inter Miami, and he is the first Argentine footballer to achieve it since Valentín “Taty” Castellanos achieved it with New York City FC champion in 2021.
The iconic #10 scored 3 goals and 1 assist on Saturday in a 5-2 victory over Nashville SC on Decision Day. The world champion with Argentina had 48 contributions to goal in the regular season, just one less than the historic mark of 49 that Carlos Vela established in MLS in 2019 with Los Angeles Football Club.
This production has Messi as a great candidate to become the first footballer in the history of the league to win the “Landon Donovan” award for MLS Most Valuable Player, after a historic 2024 campaign, in which Inter Miami won the Supporters’ Shield with a historical record of points.
Messi and Miami finished the regular season in third place in the Eastern Conference, and will begin playing the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs presented by Audi against Nashville SC (sixth ranked in the Eastern Conference), with the First Round Series – Best of 3 Games. This year the MLS Cup champion will be crowned in the final on December 5.
Messi, the most awarded footballer of all time, now adds the MLS Golden Boot to his unmatched service record. He is the most recent winner on a list that began in 1996, the year the league was founded.
Between 1996 and 2004, the Golden Boot was awarded based on a points system that awarded two units for a goal, and one for an assist, before the league changed to the current system, which counts goals directly.
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Golden Boot Winners
The following are the MLS Golden Boot winners between 2005 and 2025 (based on goals):
2025: Lionel Messi, Miami – 29 goals
2024: Christian Benteke, DC – 23 goals
2023: Denis Bouanga, LAFC – 20 goals
2022: Hany Mukhtar, Nashville – 23 goals
2021: Taty Castellanos, NYCFC – 19 goals
2020: Diego Rossi, LAFC – 14 goals
2019: Carlos Vela, LAFC – 34 goals
2018: Josef Martínez, Atlanta – 31 goals
2017: Nemanja Nikolić, Chicago – 24 goals
2016: Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York – 24 goals
2015: Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto – 22 goals
2014: Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York – 27 goals
2013: Camilo Sanvezzo, Vancouver – 22 goals
2012: Chris Wondolowski, San Jose – 27 goals
2011: Dwayne De Rosario, DC – 16 goals
2010: Chris Wondolowski, San Jose – 18 goals
2009: Jeff Cunningham, Dallas – 17 goals
2008: Landon Donovan, LA – 20 goals
2007: Luciano Emilio, DC – 20 goals
2006: Jeff Cunningham, Salt Lake – 16 goals
2005: Taylor Twellman, New England – 17 goals
The following are the winners of the Golden Boot between 1996 and 2004 (based on points)
2004: Amado Guevara, MetroStars and Pat Noonan, New England – 30 points
2003: Preki, Kansas City – 41 points
2002: Taylor Twellman, New England – 52 points
2001: Alex Pineda Chacón, Miami – 47 points
2000: Mamadou Diallo, Tampa Bay – 56 points
1999: Jason Kreis, Dallas – 51 points
1998: Stern John, Columbus – 57 points
1997: Preki, Kansas City – 41 points
1996: Roy Lassiter, Tampa Bay – 58 points
