Reigning MLS Most Valuable Player Lionel Messi kicked off Inter Miami’s 2025 season in style on Wednesday, scoring the only goal in frigid Kansas City as the Herons beat Sporting KC in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup home-and-home, total-goals-wins series.
Lionel Messi’s clinical finish helps Inter Miami take 1-0 lead over Sporting Kansas City
Three days before the official start of the top U.S. and Canadian league’s new season, Messi stole the show in the first competitive match for both teams this year. Messi, who helped Miami set a new regular season points record in 2024 by scoring 20 goals in just 19 appearances, broke a scoreless tie on Wednesday in the 56th minute.
The match, which was delayed 24 hours because of dangerously cold winter weather in the Midwest, was still played in temperatures well below the freezing mark. At kickoff, the thermometer read 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Despite speculation that the 37-year-old Argentine World Cup winner might sit the game out because of the conditions, Messi and his former Barcelona teammate Sergio Busquets played all 90 minutes nonetheless. Coach Javier Mascherano subbed 38-year-old Luis Suárez out shortly before the final whistle.
Jordi Alba, another Barça alum, missed the match due to a minor injury, as did Inter starting goalkeeper Drake Calendar.
Miami will host Eastern Conference rival New York City FC in Saturday’s MLS regular season opener. The Herons will welcome SKC in the decisive Champions Cup second leg three days later, on Feb. 25 at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.
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