(VIDEO) Lionel Messi Nears 100 Goals for Inter Miami After Late Strike in Draw With Nashville

Lionel Messi moved to within a single goal of the century mark for Inter Miami on Saturday night, scoring a stoppage-time equalizer that ultimately wasn’t enough to prevent the club from settling for a 2-2 draw against Eastern Conference leaders Nashville SC.

The goal was Messi’s 99th in 114 appearances for Inter Miami since joining the club in the summer of 2023, extending a scoring record that has already redefined expectations for what a player in his late 30s can accomplish in Major League Soccer.

How Saturday’s match unfolded

Inter Miami entered the top-of-the-table clash with Nashville in need of a result, having won just one of its previous six matches heading into the weekend. That poor stretch had left the club trailing well off the pace in the race for the top spot in MLS’s Eastern Conference standings.

The night started poorly for the home side, with Nashville taking an early lead just four minutes into the match. Inter Miami responded, and Messi was among the scorers who pulled the club level, finishing from the edge of the penalty area with his left foot to make it 1-1.

For a stretch of the match, Inter Miami appeared positioned to secure a much-needed victory. That hope was dashed in stoppage time, when Nashville’s Sam Surridge tapped home an equalizer to secure a 2-2 final score, leaving Miami still searching for the kind of result that could meaningfully close the gap in the conference standings.

Following the draw, Nashville sits nine points clear of Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference with nine rounds of matches remaining in the regular season, a gap that leaves Miami’s path back into first place increasingly difficult with the campaign entering its final stretch.

A record-setting run in South Florida

Messi’s 99th goal continues one of the most statistically dominant stretches of his storied career. Since arriving in Major League Soccer in the summer of 2023, the Argentine has become the fastest player in league history to reach 100 combined goals and assists, hitting that mark in just 64 appearances during a match against Toronto FC earlier this season, 31 games faster than the previous record holder, Sebastian Giovinco. That milestone breaks down into 59 goals and 41 assists compiled prior to Saturday’s match, according to figures released by Inter Miami CF.

Messi also became just the eighth player in club history to reach 100 total appearances for Inter Miami earlier this year, a milestone he marked in typically productive fashion, recording a goal and an assist in that match even though Inter Miami ultimately lost 4-3 to rival Orlando City in a wild Florida derby.

Beyond his MLS totals, Messi passed the 900-goal mark for his overall career earlier this year, a milestone reached in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match against Nashville, coincidentally the same opponent Inter Miami faced again on Saturday. That strike brought his Inter Miami tally to 81 goals at the time, adding to a career total that includes 672 goals for Barcelona, 32 for Paris Saint-Germain and 115 for the Argentina national team.

Reflecting on Messi’s scoring totals ahead of that 900th-goal milestone, Inter Miami manager Javier Mascherano, a former teammate of Messi’s at both Barcelona and with the Argentina national team, offered a candid assessment of what it has been like to witness the numbers pile up from the sideline.

“I haven’t contributed much to him scoring goals, neither with assists nor now as a coach,” Mascherano said. “I’ve been lucky enough to see most, or many, of the goals he’s scored, much closer than you all, and that’s a privilege. The number we’re talking about (900) is insane, and that’s why Leo is a one of a kind.”

Trophies alongside the individual milestones

Messi’s individual scoring feats have come alongside sustained team success since his arrival in South Florida. He has captained Inter Miami to each of the club’s first four major trophies, winning the 2023 Leagues Cup, the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield, the 2025 Eastern Conference title and the 2025 MLS Cup. With Inter Miami now working to close the gap on Nashville in this year’s conference race, a repeat run through the postseason in 2026 remains a central goal for the club as the regular season winds down.

With nine matches remaining in the regular season and Messi sitting on the doorstep of 100 career goals for the club, attention will now turn to when the milestone strike finally arrives. Inter Miami’s ability to close the nine-point gap on Nashville atop the Eastern Conference will likely hinge heavily on Messi’s continued scoring form, particularly given the club’s inconsistent run of results heading into Saturday’s draw.

For a player who turned 38 earlier this year, the pace at which Messi continues to produce both goals and assists remains a central storyline of MLS’s current season, with comparisons frequently drawn to other veteran stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, who reached his own 100 goal-contribution milestone with Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia shortly before turning 40. As Inter Miami looks to salvage its position in the conference standings over the season’s final stretch, Messi’s continued pursuit of individual milestones is likely to remain one of the league’s most closely watched storylines heading into the postseason.