By Dario Prebeg
Just under eight years ago, on January 29, 2018, Inter Miami was founded — a “project” club of its owner David Beckham, the legendary footballer of Manchester United and Real Madrid, whose goal was clear: to gather today’s stars and take the club to the top of MLS.
The club struggled in its early years. Despite stars such as Gonzalo Higuaín, Blaise Matuidi, and DeAndre Yedlin, as well as well-known coach Phil Neville, victories were hard to come by. It took the team as long as five months to record its first win, and they regularly found themselves near the bottom of the league.
Then the unimaginable happened. After months and months of persuasion, on July 15, 2023, David Beckham managed to bring Lionel Messi to the club. The diminutive Argentine chose to join Inter at a moment when the team was at the very bottom of the league, and Beckham’s project was being openly mocked by Americans themselves. Overnight, the situation turned 180 degrees. The club began earning enormous sums from shirt sales, its social media platforms exploded, and Messi was given free rein within the club, according to the agreement, to bring in whoever he wanted — both players and coaches. A few weeks later, Gerardo Martino, an Argentine and former Barcelona coach, was appointed as head coach, and Messi also brought with him two club legends of the “Blaugrana,” Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.
In his first match for the club, in July of that year, Messi came off the bench and scored the winning goal from a free kick, ending a long streak of 11 consecutive matches without a victory. Just one month later, Inter had already lifted its first trophy — the Leagues Cup — defeating Nashville in a penalty shootout.
Nashville vs. Inter Miami
All of this was merely an overture to what followed. Nine days before the end of 2023, another icon of the Catalan giant, Luis Suárez, joined the club, and the next two years were almost like a fairy tale for the team from Florida’s second-largest city.
The squad first won the Supporters’ Shield, then finished the regular season with a record 74 points — the highest total in league history — which automatically meant another trophy, the Eastern Conference (Regular Season). In the end, this also secured qualification for the FIFA Club World Cup.
However, the main objective had still not been achieved — winning MLS — after Inter were defeated 3–2 by Atlanta in the round of 16 of the playoff phase. This led to the dismissal of the head coach, who was replaced by another Argentine and another Barcelona club legend — Javier Mascherano.
Messi helps Inter to win MLS Suporters’ Shield
“El Jefecito” had a fiery debut on the bench. In the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup in the summer of 2025, Inter drew with Egyptian side Al Ahly. This was followed by another historic match — a 2–1 victory over Porto, marking the first (and so far only) time in the history of club football that a North American team defeated a European one in an official match.
Although they were eliminated in the round of 16, they proved they could compete with the very best. That entire team-building process culminated later in the season, when Inter first won the Eastern Conference (playoffs), and then, on December 6, 2025, Messi’s team defeated Vancouver 3–1 in the MLS Cup final, thus winning a historic first trophy as the best club in the United States.
It was an emotional, final match of their football careers for both Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. Alba’s very last touch of the ball in an official match came when he provided the pre-assist for the decisive goal that sealed the 3–1 victory.
Inter vs. Vancouver
On that three-year journey from the brink to the title, Lionel Messi played 88 matches for Inter Miami and scored 77 goals. He won his eighth Ballon d’Or, making MLS the first (and so far only) league in history to feature an active player who has won that award. He was named Sportsman of the Year by the prestigious Time magazine and broke the record held by Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskás for the most assists in football history (405).
That was far from the only record he shattered. In a single match, he registered five assists (the most ever), and also recorded the most combined goals and assists in one match (six — another all-time record). He holds the record for the most hat-tricks in league history (2), the most assists in a single season (25), and the most goals and assists in a single season (68).
He is also the only player to win the league MVP award twice in a row (2024, 2025), claimed the Golden Boot as the league’s top scorer in 2025, and it is worth noting that he is currently the club’s all-time leading scorer (77 goals) and assist provider (43 assists).
All goals and assists of Messi for Inter Miami
All of those surreal statistics are sufficient proof that Lionel Messi almost single-handedly fulfilled David Beckham’s vision of winning MLS, and they are also a clear indication that Argentina, led by him next year, will be among the main favorites in the fight to defend the world championship title.
– Dario Prebeg is a distinguished Croatian sports journalist and analyst, particularly specialized in football.
