Lionel Messi stepped on the field, scored twice, and walked off with another record in his pocket. For the fifth straight game in the MLS regular season, the Argentine forward scored two goals. No one had done that before. With a 2-1 win over Nashville, Inter Miami picked up their fifth consecutive win, extended their unbeaten run to six matches, and moved closer to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
Messi reached 16 goals in the league and matched Josef Martínez for the most goals scored over a six-game stretch in MLS history, with 11.
The free kick and the kind of precision that still impresses
In the 17th minute of the first half, Messi took a free kick with the calm of someone who’s been there a hundred times. He kept the shot low, placed it on the opposite side of the wall, and tucked it inside the right corner. Goalkeeper Joe Willis had no time to react. That opened the scoring for Inter Miami, who had already been creating chances since the early minutes.
The opportunity to score came even earlier, around the eighth minute. Allende forced a good save from Willis, and Suárez nearly finished the rebound. But Messi was the one who found the net. That goal marked his 15th of the 2025 MLS regular season.
Nashville's quick response and Messi’s answer
Just after the break, Nashville tied the match. Hany Mukhtar took advantage of a gap in the defense and scored in the 49th minute. The visitors still had hopes of leaving with a result.
That didn’t last long. In the 62nd minute, Messi capitalized on a mistake by Joe Willis. Pressed by the attack, the goalkeeper tried to control a backpass with his chest and play it short. Messi was already there, took the ball cleanly, and finished with his left foot. That made it 2-1.
A streak no one else has achieved
The numbers speak for themselves. Messi scored twice in five consecutive regular season games — against Montreal, Columbus Crew, New England, Montreal again, and Nashville. No player had ever done that in MLS history.
With his two goals against Nashville, he reached 11 in a six-game span, tying the best scoring run ever recorded in the league, set by Josef Martínez in 2018.