At 39, Lionel Messi Scored Four Goals and Added an Assist in Inter Miami’s Record 7-1 Win
One night. Four goals. One assist. And seven on the scoreboard.
Lionel Messi delivered his first four-goal performance in Major League Soccer on Saturday, August 29, powering Inter Miami CF to a 7-1 rout of CF Montréal in Miami. The 39-year-old also supplied an assist as his club scored more goals in a match than ever before.
The performance was not merely another big Messi stat line. It was a complete reversal for a Miami side that entered the night carrying a five-match winless streak—and it turned a 1-1 game into a runaway.
Messi turned a tie into a record night
Inter Miami struck first, but Montréal answered to make it 1-1. Then Messi took control.
He broke the tie in the 40th minute with a free kick, scored again seven minutes after halftime, added his third in the 83rd minute and completed the four-goal night in the sixth minute of stoppage time with another free kick. According to the Associated Press, three of the goals came in the second half.
Messi also created one of Miami’s other goals. Inter Miami ultimately scored six unanswered after Montréal’s equalizer, reaching seven for the first time in club history. The final score and club record were also confirmed by ESPN.
His first four-goal MLS game came at age 39
Four-goal matches are rare at any level. For Messi, the striking detail is that his first one in MLS arrived at 39, more than two decades into a senior career already defined by scoring records.
He began Saturday with 14 league goals this season and finished it with 18. The four-goal burst moved him from two goals behind FC Dallas forward Petar Musa in the Golden Boot race to the front at the end of Miami’s match.
It also represented Messi’s biggest single-game scoring output since joining Inter Miami in 2023. His previous MLS high was three goals, making Saturday his first league “poker”—soccer’s term for four goals—with the Florida club.
Miami needed the response
The scale of the victory mattered almost as much as the individual achievement. Inter Miami had gone five matches without a win before facing Montréal, a slide that had dulled the impact of a star-filled roster and a strong position in the Eastern Conference.
Instead of extending that drift, Miami responded with its most explosive offensive night. Casemiro, Luis Suárez and Alex Shaw joined Messi on the scoresheet, while Montréal was unable to slow the home side after drawing level. A Local 10 match report confirmed the end of the five-game winless run.
The result lifted Inter Miami to 42 points. More importantly, it showed how quickly a difficult stretch can disappear when Messi changes the geometry of a match: defenders retreat, passing lanes open and a close contest can become a rout in minutes.
Why this performance stands out
Messi has produced more consequential nights in World Cups, Champions League knockouts and domestic title races. Yet this one belongs in a different category: a late-career display of precision and volume that set a club record and delivered five direct goal contributions in a single MLS match.
The final line is almost too neat: four goals, one assist, seven team goals and a five-match skid erased.
For Inter Miami, it was the emphatic reset the club needed. For everyone else in MLS, it was another reminder that even at 39, Messi can still turn an ordinary Saturday into a scoreline the league will remember.
