Lionel Messi scored 29 goals in the regular season, making him Major League Soccer’s best scorer. He scored three goals in Inter Miami’s 5–2 triumph over Nashville on Saturday.
“Inter Miami CF superstar Lionel Messi has won the 2025 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi, netting 29 goals to become the league’s top scorer during his second full season with the Herons”, MLS announced on Saturday.
Messi has 19 assists, which was more than LAFC’s Denis Bouanga (24 goals) and Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge (24 goals). He is Inter Miami’s first Golden Boot winner and the first Argentine to claim the award since Valentín “Taty” Castellanos in 2021, as noted by MLS.
The iconic No. 10 tallied 3g/1a during Saturday’s 5-2 Decision Day victory at Nashville, giving him 48 goal contributions this year – narrowly shy of Carlos Vela’s MLS-record 49 for LAFC in 2019.
Now, Messi is going to be the first player in league history to win the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award two years in a row. Miami won the Supporters’ Shield owing to a record-breaking season in 2024.
“Messi and Miami are the Eastern Conference No. 3 seed in the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, where they’ll face No. 6 Nashville in a Round One Best-of-3 Series,” MLS said. MLS Cup is scheduled for Dec. 6.
From 1996-2004, the MLS Golden Boot was awarded under a points-based system that gave two points for a goal and one for an assist, before switching to outright goals.
Messi now adds the Golden Boot to an already unmatched résumé, joining an exclusive list of winners dating back to MLS’s inaugural season.
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