FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lionel Messi’s first-half brace propelled Inter Miami to a 4-0 victory over Nashville SC at Chase Stadium on Saturday to advance in the MLS playoffs for the first time in club history.
Tadeo Allende wrapped up the win with a quickfire double of his own late in the second half, with Messi providing the assist for the second.
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With the win, Miami clinched the Round One best-of-three game series 2-1 to progress to the Eastern Conference semifinals and a meeting with No. 2 seed FC Cincinnati.
Inter Miami entered the game at a disadvantage without Luis Suárez, who watched from the sidelines after receiving a one-game suspension from the MLS disciplinary committee for violent conduct in the second match of the series last week.
Despite the absence of the veteran striker, Inter Miami earned the early lead in the 10th minute after Messi took possession of the ball in the final third and fired a shot into the lower right corner of the goal.
Lionel Messi’s goals took Inter Miami past Nashville in Round 1 of the MLS playoffs. Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Messi then doubled the score late in the second half with the help of Mateo Silvetti, the player head coach Javier Mascherano chose to replace Suárez in the starting 11.
Miami continued to dominate as the game progressed, inspiring Allende to score two goals in the span of five minutes to clinch the ticket to the next round of the playoffs.
Despite Nashville’s 11 shots throughout the match, goalkeeper Rocco Ríos Novo kept the team’s first clean sheet of the 2025 postseason.
Messi, fresh off winning the Golden Boot during the regular season, finished the three-game series with five goals. He has 12 goals in just seven career matches against Nashville, the most against any MLS opponent since his arrival in July 2023.
Miami, the No. 3 seed in the East, now prepares to face FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium in Ohio for the one-match Eastern Conference semifinal. Inter Miami previously failed to advance out of the first round of the playoffs, falling at the opening hurdle in 2022 and 2024.
A year ago, in Messi’s first full season with the club, it lost a Game 3 of Round 1 at home as the Supporters’ Shield winners and were ousted by Atlanta.
Saturday’s victory ensured at least one more game in the career of Messi’s longtime teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, who have both announced they will retire at the end of the current season.
The Inter Miami-Cincinnati winner will play either top-seeded Philadelphia Union or fifth-seeded New York City FC in the East final. The MLS Cup final is scheduled for Dec. 6, and Philadelphia, Cincinnati or Inter Miami would all play host that match if it got to the title game.
Information from the Associated Press and ESPN Research was used in this report.
