It was only the eighth loss in Messi's 53 appearances for IMCF across all competitions. Previously, the worst scorelines with the Argentinian World Cup winner on the pitch were 3-1 defeats to Vancouver in 2025 (Champions Cup), Monterrey in 2024 (Champions Cup) and Atlanta United in 2024 (MLS regular season).

Lionel Messi’s goal — which won’t make any of his career highlight reels — gave Loons fans a thrill (and a scare) when he slotted in a shot to cut MNUFC’s lead to 2-1 in the 48th minute. MNUFC (6-2-4, 22 points) went on to nullify the threat with two more goals and hand Miami (6-2-3, 21 points) only its second loss on the season.

Lionel Messi suffered the heaviest defeat of his MLS career as Inter Miami crashed to a 4-1 defeat against Minnesota United on Saturday.With Luis Suarez injured, Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano opted to play without a recognised target striker with Messi floating in front of a five-man midfield.