FORT LAUDERDALE - Inter Miami CF captain Lionel Messi scored four goals and added an assist Saturday night in a 7-1 demolition of CF Montréal, the largest margin of victory in club history, earning him MLS Player of the Matchday honors for Matchday 23.
The performance was the first time in Messi’s MLS career that he scored four goals in a regular season match, making him the 19th different player in league history to accomplish the feat. He opened his account with a late first-half goal, then added a solo effort in the 52nd minute to start the second half. Messi assisted Luis Suárez in the 80th minute, chipped in his third goal in the 83rd minute and buried a free kick in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Messi now has 18 goals in 19 appearances this regular season, leading the race for the MLS Golden Boot, with 10 assists to complement his scoring. He owns one-fourth of all regular-season games in MLS history with at least five goal contributions, having reached that mark three separate times in his career. He also became the fastest player to record 20 multi-goal games in the regular season, reaching the milestone in just 72 total matches.
The award is the third time Messi has been named MLS Player of the Matchday in 2026, following honors at Matchdays 2 and 8, and the 15th such honor of his career. Messi has now passed Jeff Cunningham, who held 14 awards, for the second-most Player of the Matchday selections in league history. Only Landon Donovan, with 19, has more.
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected through a combined vote: a panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent. Inter Miami next continues its push atop the MLS standings as the regular season moves into Matchday 24.