Messi's dominant performance against Atlanta came after he briefly left international duty with Argentina during the FIFA window.
Posted on October 12, 2025
Lionel Messi scored two goals and assisted on another for Jordi Alba to lead Inter Miami to a 4-0 home victory over Atlanta United on Saturday night in Major League Soccer (MLS) at Chase Stadium in Florida.
Messi, who missed his native Argentina's friendly against Venezuela in Miami the night before, started and helped Inter Miami (18-7-8, 62 points) secure at least third place in the Eastern Conference with the victory.
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The Herons still have a chance to clinch second place if they can finish with more points than FC Cincinnati, who also have 62 points. If the teams finish with the same number of points, Cincinnati would clinch the top spot by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Atlanta United (5-16-12, 27 points), which eliminated Inter Miami from the MLS playoffs in the first round last season, lost its third straight game and is winless in its last five.
Both teams fell short due to this week's FIFA international window. But Messi, who opted to play for his club rather than his country this weekend, now leads MLS in goals, with 26, and his 18th assist tied San Diego's Anders Dreyer for the league lead.
Messi's first goal came in the 39th minute when he controlled a cross pass from Baltasar Rodríguez and fired into the top corner to break the goalless tie. His second goal capped the score in the 87th minute after an assist from Alba.
In the 52nd minute, Messi created the opportunity that led to Miami's second goal, when he launched a long ball across the field to Alba as he advanced toward the Atlanta goal. Alba did the rest, firing the ball over Atlanta goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert.
Luis Suárez added to the tally in the 61st minute, when he perfectly timed a shot following an attempted high clearance by Atlanta into the back of the net, passing the ball past Hibbert. Inter Miami's Rocco Ríos Novo started in goal and kept a clean sheet.
Atlanta United, who have been plagued by injuries to key players this season, had to deal with another when, in the 14th minute, Stian Gregersen was forced to leave the game with what appeared to be a possible hamstring problem.
Saturday's game was the final MLS regular season game at Chase Stadium for Inter, and the team will move to Miami Freedom Park in 2026.
