Messi Wins MLS Golden Boot with a Spectacular Goal-Assist Tally
After Inter Miami’s victory over Nashville, Lionel Messi has officially become the top scorer of the 2025 MLS season with 29 goals.
Messi captured the 2025 MLS Golden Boot, scoring 29 goals to finish as the league’s leading scorer in his second full season with Inter Miami.
With an additional 19 assists, Messi finished far ahead of Denis Bouanga (LAFC, 24 goals) and Sam Surridge (Nashville, 24 goals). He is the first Inter Miami player ever to win the Golden Boot and the first Argentine to claim the award since Valentín Castellanos did so with New York City FC in 2021.
Messi Scores 29 Goals in 2025 MLS Season for Inter Miami
The No. 10 produced a hat-trick and an assist in Miami’s 5–2 win over Nashville on Sunday, bringing his combined goals and assists to 48—just one short of Carlos Vela’s record 49 (set with LAFC in 2019).
In total, Messi now has 71 goals and 36 assists in 82 appearances for Inter Miami. Remarkably, he has scored at least one hat-trick in 17 consecutive seasons.
Messi scores another hat-trick as he approaches the 400-assist milestone.
Now, Messi appears poised to follow in the footsteps of Landon Donovan, who was the first player to win back-to-back MLS MVP awards, after a historic 2024 campaign that saw Inter Miami win the Supporters’ Shield with a record-breaking points total.
Messi’s Inter Miami enter the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, set to face No. 6 Nashville in a best-of-three series. The MLS Cup champion will be crowned on December 7.