Lionel Messi’s standing among the game’s all-time greats — a World Cup winner with countless trophies — was already settled before he arrived in MLS. Still, he wanted a domestic title, and he got it.
Inter Miami completed its rise by defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in Saturday’s MLS Cup final, giving the club its first championship roughly two and a half years after Messi’s move to South Florida. The decisive moment came in the 72nd minute when Messi won possession and threaded a precise pass through a narrow seam to Rodrigo De Paul. De Paul coolly finished into the far corner, and Messi leapt into his arms as the crowd erupted.
Miami’s supporters, many clad in the team’s signature pink and wearing Messi’s No. 10, roared and stomped as the clock wound down. In the sixth minute of stoppage time Tadeo Allende put the result beyond doubt, converting another Messi assist to make it 3-1.
The victory makes Inter Miami the 16th franchise to lift the MLS Cup. The result also highlights the league’s competitive balance: five different clubs have won the title in the last five seasons, and eight franchises have claimed championships over the past nine years, with Columbus the only repeat winner in that span.
Photographs captured Messi celebrating at Chase Stadium on Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale. CBS Miami will carry a streaming special with postgame analysis and fan reaction immediately after the match on the CBS News Miami stream and on Pluto TV.