Image Author:- Goal
Lionel Messi’s first MLS season.
Lionel Messi’s debut season with Major League Soccer team Inter Miami has ended quietly.
Messi had a goal disallowed for offsides and a free kick went off the crossbar as Charlotte FC won 1-0 at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday night in Charlotte, North Carolina. Messi, who was wearing the black “La Noche” Inter Miami shirt for the first time since joining the club in late July, was competitive, engaged, and ran hard as if the game mattered. But it wasn’t the case.
Kerwin Vargas scored in the 13th minute, two Inter Miami goals were nullified by offsides penalties, and keeper Kristijan Kahlina saved two efforts in the last minutes – a header by Leo Campana with his fingertips and a corner kick by Messi – to advance to the MLS playoffs.
Messi was not required to play. Inter Miami was knocked out of the playoffs earlier this month. And the Argentina 2022 World Cup champion and seven-time Ballon d’Or winner may have saved his health after recovering it following an injury in September.
Lionel looked fantastic in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Peru on Tuesday night in a 2026 World Cup qualifying match, scoring in the 32nd and 42nd minutes, and insisted on concluding Inter Miami’s season. For the first time in MLS history, Lionel played on turf rather than natural grass. Inter Miami utilised their final away encounter of the season to evaluate its team ahead of a protracted offseason that might include a trip to China for two friendly and additional roster reconstruction in early November.