Lionel Messi scores 900th goal, but Miami bounced from CCC
Lionel Messi turned simply the second males’s participant in historical past to attain 900 objectives in official matches after scoring in Inter Miami‘s 1-1 Concacaf Champions Cup second-leg draw with Nashville SC on Wednesday.
The first leg led to a 0-0 draw, so Wednesday’s consequence means Miami is eradicated from the CCC on the away objectives rule, as a strike by Nashville’s Cristian Espinoza proved decisive when he canceled out the early purpose from Messi to ship his crew via.
After lacking the prospect to hit 900 in his final two video games, Messi wasted no time within the second leg, selecting up a go within the field, reducing to his left after which firing again throughout purpose to present Miami the lead inside 10 minutes.
But Espinoza scored halfway via the second half with an excellent strike following a scramble in entrance of the web, and Miami couldn’t discover a go-ahead purpose within the closing minutes as their Champions Cup run got here to an finish.
After the sport, Miami supervisor Javier Mascherano stated his crew was upset, but that there was nonetheless loads of work for the crew to do going ahead.
“Clearly, it is a very sad night, full of disappointment. We had high hopes of advancing in the competition — a tie that was very evenly matched — and today we took the lead on the scoreboard,” Mascherano stated. “We had several chances to score another goal or two, especially in the first half. Well, the match was clearly in jeopardy, as it was a very tight contest against a formidable opponent.
“Regrettably, we conceded a purpose following a considerably unlucky sequence of occasions; issues occur, and we ended up getting knocked out. The actuality is that I’ve completely nothing to reproach the gamers for. They gave their absolute most and did every little thing humanly attainable; in the end, the particular person actually chargeable for this elimination is me.”
Nashville coach BJ Callaghan paid tribute to Messi after the game, saying: “900 objectives, congratulations to him. He’s one of the best.”
The Argentina captain joined Cristiano Ronaldo as the only men’s players to reach 900 goals with his strike Wednesday. Ronaldo achieved the feat in September 2024.
Ronaldo has 965 goals and has made it clear he wants to clear the 1,000-goal threshold before retiring. It took Messi 1,142 games to get to 900, while Ronaldo needed 1,236 matches to reach the mark.
Brazilian great Pele stands third on the all-time list with 765. Among active players, Barcelona‘s Robert Lewandowski is a distant third behind Ronald and Messi, with 690.
Messi went into Wednesday’s match with 899 goals since his professional debut with Barcelona on Oct. 16, 2004.
The majority of Messi’s goals come from his time in Spain with Barcelona. He totaled 672 before adding to his tally with 81 at Inter Miami and 32 at Paris Saint-Germain. Internationally, the reigning World Cup champion has recorded 115 objectives for the Argentina nationwide crew.
The most prolific 12 months of Messi’s profession got here in 2012, when he scored a mixed 91 objectives for Barcelona and Argentina.
His latest goal-scoring efforts propelled him to the 2025 MLS Golden Boot; he netted 29 objectives all through the regular-season marketing campaign to turn into the league’s prime scorer. He additionally earned the 2025 MLS MVP award, turning into the primary participant to win the award on consecutive events.
But Messi isn’t any stranger to creating historical past. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner set the world file for many objectives scored in a single calendar 12 months when he netted 91 in 69 video games in 2012, scoring 79 for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina. He additionally stands because the quickest participant to attain 100 objectives within the Champions League by doing so in 123 video games.
