Category: Soccer

By NOAH TRISTER BALTIMORE (AP) — Lionel Messi scored in the 27th minute, and Inter Miami held on for a 2-1 victory over D.C. United on Saturday night in front of 72,026 at the home of the Baltimore Ravens. With interest in Messi obviously high, the game was held in downtown Baltimore instead of at D.C. United’s smaller venue in Washington. Messi gave many fans what they came to see when he put Inter Miami (2-1-0) ahead 2-0 lead in the first half. Rodrigo De Paul also scored for the defending MLS Cup champions. Tai Baribo pulled United (1-2-0) within one in the 75th minute, but D.C. was...

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi scored twice in a four-goal second half, defender Telasco Segovia added a goal and two assists and defending champion Inter Miami rallied to beat Orlando City 4-2 on Sunday night, winning for the first time at Inter&Co Stadium. Messi took a pass from Segovia and scored in the 57th minute to tie it 2-2 and Segovia scored unassisted in the 85th for the lead. Messi put the finishing touch on the victory when he scored off a free kick in the 90th. The reigning MVP’s first two goals of the season give him 52 in his first 55 regular-season MLS matches — 51 of...

By TIM REYNOLDS FORT LAUDERDALE — Lionel Messi will play for another trophy. Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets clearly aren’t ready to begin their retirements, either. Tadeo Allande scored three goals — Alba and Busquets, a pair of longtime Messi teammates who will retire when this season ends, had the assists on his first two — and Inter Miami topped New York City FC 5-1 on Saturday night for the Eastern Conference title and a berth in the MLS Cup final. Mateo Silvetti scored in the 67th minute for Inter Miami, with Messi setting up that goal — the 405th assist of his career for club and...

By JEFF WALLNER CINCINNATI (AP) — Lionel Messi had a goal and three assists and Tadeo Allende scored twice as Inter Miami beat FC Cincinnati 4-0 Sunday to advance to its first Eastern Conference final. Miami will take on the winner of Sunday’s other conference semifinal between the Philadelphia Union and New York City FC. “Proud of how the team played on a very, very difficult field and against a very, very tough opponent,” Miami head coach Javier Mascherano said through a translator. “I think from the first minute it wasn’t about holding back. It was about going after the game and being...

By JACK WILLIAMS NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lionel Messi scored a late goal but sixth-seeded Nashville beat No. 3 seed Inter Miami 2-1 in Game 2 of the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs on Saturday night. The teams will meet in Fort Lauderdale on Nov. 8 for a decisive Game 3. It was Nashville’s first playoff win since the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs, when it defeated Orlando 2-1 at home in first round. Saturday’s victory was also Nashville’s first over Miami since May 17, 2023, in a 2-1 result. Sam Surridge opened the scoring in the ninth minute, finding the back of the net on a penalty shot with...

By TIM REYNOLDS FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi raised the Golden Boot. He then got Inter Miami started with his head. Messi opened the scoring with a diving header in the first half, then capped the scoring in the 96th minute as Inter Miami opened the Major League Soccer playoffs with a 3-1 win over Nashville SC in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference best-of-three first-round series on Friday night. Messi and Ian Fray had the assists on Tadeo Allende’s second-half tally for Inter Miami, which now gets two chances to advance out of the first round for the first time in Messi’s 2...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lionel Messi scored his second career MLS hat trick nearly a year after his first in Inter Miami’s 5-2 win over Nashville SC on Saturday night. The last time Messi scored a hat trick was Oct. 19, 2024, in Inter Miami’s 6-2 win over the New England Revolution. It was the 19th scored hat trick of the 2025 MLS season. He scored his first of the game from the top of the box in the 35th minute to give Inter Miami a 1-0 lead. Messi was awarded a penalty kick in the 63rd minute and scored to tie the game 2-2. He completed the hat trick in the 81st minute, scoring from the...

FORT LAUDERDALE — Lionel Messi had a goal in each half and added an assist to help Inter Miami clinch home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 4-0 victory over Atlanta United on Saturday night. Messi found the net in the 39th minute when he took a pass from Baltasar Rodríguez and scored to put Inter Miami (18-7-8) up 1-0 at halftime. Jordi Alba, who has announced he will retire at the end of the season, made it 2-0 seven minutes into the second half with his sixth goal. The 36-year-old defender has 11 goals and 27 assists in 64 appearances — all with Miami. The club...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Tadeo Allende and Jordi Alba each scored two goals, Lionel Messi had three assists and Inter Miami beat the New England Revolution 4-1 on Saturday night. Messi has 24 goals and 17 assist and his 41 goal contributions this season are the second most in MLS history. Carlos Vela had 49 (34 goals, 15 assists) for Los Angeles FC in 2019. Miami (17-7-8) is third in the Eastern Conference with 59 points, three behind second-place Cincinnati and three ahead of Charlotte and New York City. Philadelphia, the points leader in all of MLS, has 66 points. Allende ran onto a...