Lionel Messi captured his first MLS Golden Boot in outstanding fashion on the final day of the 2025 regular season adding another personal achievement to his historic résumé.

The Argentine scored a hat trick to power Inter Miami to a 5–2 win over Nashville SC on Saturday night, bringing him to 29 goals and 19 assists on the season.

His 48 goal contributions also marked the second-best individual MLS campaign ever, trailing only Carlos Vela’s 2019 season with LAFC, where he scored a record 34 goals and provided 15 assists for 49 goal contributions. 

That LAFC team was also the last team before Miami in 2025 to score more than 80 goals in a regular season. 

Messi had the Golden Boot as a late-season priority. In Miami’s penultimate game against Atlanta United, he stepped away from international duty with Argentina to come back to the Herons, where he scored a brace in a 4–0 win. 

The next morning, he rejoined his Argentina teammates for training and played in an international friendly against Puerto Rico at Inter Miami’s home, Chase Stadium, less than 72 hours later. 

Messi gave himself a two-goal advantage over his next closest competitor heading into the final matchday. LAFC star Denis Bouanga had 24 goals, but missed two games on international duty with Gabon and did not score on the final matchday. 

Messi also became him the fastest player to 50 regular-season goals hitting the mark in just 53 appearances, surpassing the previous record set by Zlatan Ibrahimović in 54 games with the LA Galaxy. He also finished the season with 10 multi-goal games, the most of any MLS player in the league’s 30-year history. 

Only three players, Vela (34), Josef Martínez (31) and Ibrahimović (30) have scored more goals in a single MLS regular season than Messi.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner established himself as the outright favorite for the 2025 MLS MVP award and could become the first player to win the honor in back-to-back seasons.

With the regular season wrapped up, Messi and Miami now look to the 2025 MLS Cup playoffs—their journey starts with a first-round, best-of-three series against Nashville SC. 

Lionel Messi 2025 MLS Stats

Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi’s 2025 season will go down as one of the best in the league’s history. | Mark Smith-Imagn Images

2025 MLS Golden Boot Standings

*Dejan Joveljić (Sporting Kansas City) and Petar Musa (FC Dallas) are tied for fith

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lionel Messi Wins MLS Golden Boot in Record-Setting Season .