Inter

Lionel Messi scored twice in Inter Miami’s 4-0 MLS win over Atlanta United, a day after being rested by Argentina for their friendly against Venezuela.

Argentina captain Messi, 38, was called up for Friday’s match against Venezuela at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, home of NFL side the Miami Dolphins, and Tuesday’s game against Puerto Rico, which has been relocated from Chicago to Fort Lauderdale.

With the MLS continuing during the international break it was not clear if Messi would play for Inter Miami on Saturday in their penultimate regular season match.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner trained with Argentina during the week but watched Friday’s match – which Argentina won 1-0 – from the stands, with national boss Lionel Scaloni saying he wanted to see Lautaro Martinez and Julian Alvarez play together.

Miami boss Javier Mascherano said they asked for Messi to leave the national set-up to play in their home match and he started against Atlanta, curling in his opener in the 39th minute and adding his second in the 87th to take him to the top of the MLS scoring charts with 26 goals.

He also assisted Jordi Alba’s second-half strike, while Luis Suarez scored Miami’s other goal.

“Yesterday, before the match, I talked to [Argentina manager Lionel] Scaloni, and he said no, that he was not going to use him, that he was going to sit him down. And I spoke to Leo to see if he could play,” said Mascherano.

“It was his decision, and clearly he saw the opportunity that if he wasn’t going to play against Venezuela yesterday, we could use him. Leo, of course, was ready to do it.

“He is a very special player, he’s an icon, and even though he didn’t train last week with us, we saw what he did today. He has helped us to win, he managed to score. That for him was important.”

Inter are already guaranteed a play-off spot and sit third in the eastern conference, tied on points with second-placed FC Cincinnati.

Messi’s dominant performance against Atlanta came after he briefly left international duty with Argentina during the FIFA window.

Lionel Messi scored two goals and assisted on another by Jordi Alba to lead Inter Miami to a 4-0 home victory over Atlanta United on Saturday night in Major League Soccer (MLS) at Chase Stadium in Florida.

Messi, who sat out his home nation, Argentina’s, friendly against Venezuela that was held in Miami one night earlier, started and helped Inter Miami (18-7-8, 62 points) guarantee itself at least the No 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with the victory.

The Herons still have a chance to secure the No 2 seed if they can finish with more points than FC Cincinnati, which also has 62 points. If the teams finish with the same number of points, Cincinnati would clinch the higher seed by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Atlanta United (5-16-12, 27 points), which eliminated Inter Miami from the MLS playoffs in the first round last season, lost its third match in a row and is winless in its past five.

Both teams were short-handed due to the FIFA international window this week. But Messi, who chose to play for club over country this weekend, now leads the MLS in goals, with 26, and his 18th assist tied San Diego’s Anders Dreyer for the league lead.

Messi’s first goal came in the 39th minute when he controlled a crossing pass from Baltasar Rodriguez and curled in a shot to the far top corner to break a scoreless deadlock. His second goal capped the scoring in the 87th minute off an assist from Alba.

In the 52nd minute, Messi created the chance that led to Miami’s second score, when he looped a long ball across the field to Alba as he surged towards Atlanta’s goal. Alba did the rest, lobbing the ball over Atlanta keeper Jayden Hibbert.

Luis Suarez added to the tally in the 61st minute, when he timed a shot perfectly off a high clearance attempt by Atlanta into the back of the net, curling the ball past Hibbert. Inter Miami’s Rocco Rios Novo started in goal and recorded the clean sheet.

Atlanta United, which has been riddled with injuries to key players this season, had to deal with another when, in the 14th minute, Stian Gregersen was forced to leave the game with what appeared to be a potential hamstring issue.

Saturday’s fixture was the final MLS regular-season match at Chase Stadium for Inter, with the team relocating to Miami Freedom Park in 2026.