Inter Miami CF captain Lionel Messi’s standout performance against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night earn him Major League Soccer (MLS) Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra honors for Matchday 26.
Continuing one of the most torrid runs in league history, Messi assisted on Miami’s first two goals and scored the club’s final two goals in a 1-5 road victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night. The Argentine star has scored at least two goals in six of his last seven MLS matches and has accumulated 19 goal contributions over the span.
Led by Messi, Miami (41 points, 12-4-5) remained in fifth place in the Eastern Conference table with three games in hand over each of the four teams sitting above them and is one only three teams averaging at least 1.95 points per game this season, joining Nashville SC (1.96) and the Philadelphia Union (1.96).
First, Messi set up Alba for the team’s equalizer against the Red Bulls in the 24th minute of the match, prior to recording a secondary assist in the team’s second goal, as Segovia turned the scoring around 1-2 in favor of Inter Miami in the 27th minute. With his second assist of the night, Messi made MLS history by becoming just the fifth player in league history to record at least 35 goals and 25 assists over a two-year span, joining Robbie Keane (2013-14), Sebastian Giovinco (2015-16), Carlos Vela (2018-19), and Cucho Hernández (2023-24).
Messi then bagged a second-half brace, his sixth in the past seven regular season appearances, with goals in the 60th and 75th minutes to round out the win. Notably, his second strike took his tally to 18 this regular season as he is now tied at the top in the race for the Golden Boot presented by Audi.
This is Messi’s fifth Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra honor of the season, and his third since Matchday 22. His 11 Player of the Matchday accolades are tied with Chris Wondolowski (11) for the fifth-most in MLS history and trails only Landon Donovan (19), Jeff Cunningham (14), and Bradley Wright-Phillips (12). Messi is the first player in league history to win Player of the Matchday at least five times in a single season twice, after taking home the award six times during his Landon Donvan MLS MVP campaign in 2024. Only three players have earned Player of the Matchday six times in a single season – Messi (2024), Carlos Vela (2019), and Jason Kreis (1999) and all three players earned the Landon Donovan MLS MVP in those seasons.
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
