Messi wins MLS Golden Boot for second straight year
Even past the age of 39, Lionel Messi's performances have lost none of their sharpness. In the 2025-26 season, wearing the Inter Miami shirt, he scored 30 goals in 36 matches across all competitions. With that superb form, he has become the first player to win Major League Soccer's (MLS) Golden Boot award two times in a row.
Messi earned the title of "record's favourite son" long ago. Goal after goal, he has broken one record after another, and he has won no shortage of titles either. Now the Argentine star has set a record that no one else has managed.
In the current season (2025-26), Messi has scored 26 goals in 31 MLS matches and provided 17 assists. Combining goals and assists, he has contributed to 43 goals in MLS — the highest in the league this season.
Messi is the sixth player to finish as the top scorer in the MLS regular season more than once. But no one before him has won the Golden Boot in two consecutive seasons. That achievement sets him apart in the history books.
Messi said goodbye to Argentina a month ago. On October 7, at the Monumental, the Argentina-Benin match turned into a "Messi show" from start to finish thanks to his superb performance. Alongside one goal, he assisted three others.
Messi has played a record 208 matches for Argentina and scored a record 126 goals in the national shirt, with 69 assists. He has won four titles with Argentina — the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the 2022 Finalissima, and the Copa America in 2021 and 2024.
On July 19, he came close to retaining the World Cup. But in that final in New Jersey, Spain beat Argentina 1-0 to win their second World Cup. The Argentines failed in their mission to win back-to-back World Cups, while the Spanish reclaimed the title after 16 years.
Forty-three days after that World Cup final heartbreak, Messi did announce his retirement from international football on social media. But thinking of the fans to whom he had given so many memorable moments over 21 years, he played one last match in the Argentina shirt at home on October 7. The Argentine star even broke down in tears while delivering his farewell speech.
In club football, though, there is no sign of Messi slowing down. For Inter Miami, he keeps driving the team forward with goals and assists in every match. A second consecutive Golden Boot is recognition of that consistency.
