Lionel Messi has become the first player to win the MLS Golden Boot in consecutive seasons after finishing the 2026 regular season as the league’s top scorer.
The Argentine achieved the feat on Saturday as defending champions Inter Miami played out a 3–3 draw with Charlotte on the final day of the regular season, finishing second in the Eastern Conference.
Although Messi did not score at Nu Stadium, he provided assists for Miami’s first two goals through corner kicks. He ended the campaign with 26 goals, four more than FC Dallas forward Petar Musa, who failed to find the net in his side’s 3–1 home victory over Colorado.
Miami took the lead in the 14th minute after Charlotte’s Luca de la Torre failed to clear a Messi corner, allowing the ball to fall to Ian Fray, who fired home.
Another Messi corner in the 33rd minute found Luis Suárez unmarked at the near post, with the Uruguayan striker heading the ball into the net to double Miami’s advantage. Rodrigo De Paul added a third goal before half-time.
Charlotte fought back in the second half, with Liel Abada pulling one goal back before scoring again in the 55th minute to level the match. Rodolfo Aloko completed the comeback in the 90th minute, reacting quickest after Smalls’s effort came off the post.
Messi nearly snatched a late winner when he struck the post in stoppage time, while Aloko also came close to scoring a fourth goal for Charlotte with a powerful effort that hit the side netting.
Despite dropping points, Miami finished the regular season with 60 points, securing home advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs. New England had an opportunity to overtake them but suffered a 1–0 defeat to Orlando, leaving them third with 58 points.
Nashville finished top of the Eastern Conference after defeating Cincinnati 2–0, setting a new MLS regular-season points record with 77 points.
The club recorded 23 wins, eight draws and three defeats, surpassing the previous record of 74 points set by Inter Miami in 2024.
Miami will begin their playoff campaign against Columbus, who defeated Chicago 4–3 to finish seventh and avoid the wild-card round. New England will face Philadelphia, Charlotte will take on Chicago, while top-seeded Nashville will meet the winner of the wild-card match between Orlando and Cincinnati.
In the Western Conference, Vancouver defeated Montreal 2–0 to finish second overall. The result means the Whitecaps will have home advantage if they face Inter Miami again in a rematch of last season’s MLS Cup final.
Six teams entered the final day of the regular season competing for the last three Western Conference playoff spots.
Portland, Colorado and the Los Angeles Galaxy all had an opportunity to qualify with victories, but only Portland secured a place after beating Austin 2–0.
Real Salt Lake also booked a postseason spot with a 2–1 victory over the Galaxy, while Colorado missed out following their defeat to Dallas.
Seattle claimed the final available playoff spot after securing a 2–1 home victory over Los Angeles FC. Albert Rusnák opened the scoring in the first minute before setting up Sebastián Gómez for the second goal in the 31st minute. Eddie Segura pulled one back for LAFC in the 82nd minute.
Minnesota United also defeated San Jose 3–1 but, like the Galaxy, finished one point behind Real Salt Lake and missed out on the playoffs.
Vancouver will face the winner of the wild-card match between Seattle and Real Salt Lake. Dallas will take on Portland, LAFC will meet St. Louis, while Houston will face San Jose.
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Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is the team responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing news and feature content on Julian Daily Gist. Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories. We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, and responsibly sourced information.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team researches, writes, edits, and publishes news and feature content covering Nigerian current affairs, entertainment, sports, health, business, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide accurate, timely, and responsibly sourced information and update our reports when credible new information becomes available.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
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Team BIo:
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, useful, and responsibly sourced information. Our team makes reasonable efforts to verify important information, identify sources, distinguish allegations from confirmed facts, and update reports when credible new information becomes available.
We also believe in transparency and accountability. Readers can contact our editorial team to report factual errors, request corrections, or provide additional information relevant to a published story.
Editorial focus: News, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories.
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