In his fourth Major League Soccer season, Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi has accomplished something that no other player has done in MLS history. When the season ended on Saturday, he earned his second straight Golden Boot, becoming the first player to win the award in consecutive seasons in MLS history.
Messi fell short of his career-high of 29 goals from last season, but the 26 that he scored in the 2026 campaign were enough to earn him the hardware. Messi was battling with FC Dallas forward Petar Musa for the top spot for most of the year, but Musa fell just short with 22 goals on the season. Sam Surridge of the dominant Nashville SC and Brian White of the Vancouver Whitecaps were the only other players to eclipse the 20-goal plateau.
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Dominating Stat Sheets
Looking at the MLS’s stats page, it’s almost impossible to discount how much of an impact Messi made this season despite being 39 years of age. He led the league in goals (26), goal contributions (43), shots (183), and shots on target (76). Impressively in regards to the shots and shots on target, no other player even came close. The second most shots belonged to the Philadelphia Union’s Milan Iloski with 122 and Petar Musa had the second most shots on target with 52.
Messi also finished second in assists, trailing just Charlotte FC midfielder Pep Biel who had 18.
Making History
Messi is just the sixth player in MLS history to win the Golden Boot on two different occasions. According to Cal Meachem of the MLS, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Chris Wondolowski, Jeff Cunningham, Taylor Twellman, and Preki are the only other players to do so. With that being said, Twellman and Preki each had at least one of their Golden Boots during the early points-based system.
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Messi is also looking for a third straight MVP trophy and given his performance this season, it’s seemingly highly likely that he’ll earn that honor as well. Messi’s 26 goals this season are the second highest tally in the 2020’s, trailing only his own marker of 29 from last season.
As a team, Inter Miami did fall short of winning the Supporter’s Shield for the second straight season as they finished 17 points off of Nashville FC, who set a new record for points in a season.
Looking Forward
Messi’s season still isn’t over, as now Inter Miami will turn their attention to the MLS Cup Playoffs where they’ll face the three-time MLS Cup winning Columbus Crew, who most recently took the title back in 2023 under then manager Wilfried Nancy.
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Unlike Inter Miami, the Crew had a score-by-committee approach to their success this season. Brais Mendez, Diego Rossi, and Gonzalo Tapia each had six goals and led their team.
As things currently stand, it’s unknown exactly when Messi and Inter Miami will start their best-of-three series against the Crew as they look to become the first back-to-back MLS Cup winners in over a decade. The dates and times are still yet to be announced, but it’ll certainly be a must-see series as Messi looks to continue making history.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi Makes MLS History as Golden Boot Winner appeared first on HEAVY.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
