Messi vs Nashville | 900th Career Goal – History Made! 🐐🔥 | 18/03/2026

Lionel Messi a chance to make yet more history tonight becoming the second player on record to score 900 goals in his career a matter of months after lifting MLS Cup with Inter Miami. Nashville SC off to the best start to a season in team history following up on the first trophy in team history last fall this game in the quarterfinal round. Hello everyone and welcome alongside Stu Holden I'm John Strong the rain is falling in South Florida but out come Lionel Messi's between MLS Cup champions Inter Miami and US Open Cup champions Nashville SC. It has been raining. Will they have to try to push them on as this game is underway. That cross comes in from the right. Lionel Messi on the ball for the first time seeking goal 900 of his career tonight. Segovia. Messi poked away. Matthew Corcoran who was playing at the under-20 World Cup for the US in the fall. And now here's the chaos here's the transition game it's a good tackle by Woloje to take it away from Messi. Good job by Woloje making a shot of balance but it's holding up at the end so it means you have to follow your run follow the ball as a defensive player. Goalkeeper Depaul that took a little bit of a touch there to steer it wide. McGillan is there cutting it back in Lionel Messi looking for a shot and Messi the 900th goal of his illustrious career and it puts Inter Miami in front early in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Career goals as Maxwell Woloje commits that of the midfield still recognizing that Espinoza is a danger man. Ball turns over first one to recover and make the tackle. Now Messi trying to hard get it all the way the ball first time and picks your head up it's a pretty good man to find in the box Lionel Messi and you've got a good look there at just. It's a co whistles that for a foul. It's barking at Yazbek right now behind the play. That was Lovett's cross that was closed down. Messi's in and Espinoza in front it takes a block. That was Lionel Messi doing the defensive workout for a corner. They caught him off guard. And there was alert to the loose ball to steer it to Sokovia. Yazbek steps in. They don't have the margin for error because they were not able to score. Suarez on the bench. It's a deflected ball in Allende. It's a clever switch and rotate almost into a man-to-man type marking system and letting Messi stay high with the furthest back center back but what he's trying to do is how thankful he is for in many ways being the CEO of this organization. Messi sends it into the back with their own six-yard box. Messi Allende. Well Nashville had the ball anytime they tried to get turned and look forward to play line breaking passes Miami were everywhere. Shutting down angles or it's gonna open the game up into more of a transition game so I think this is a little bit of patience here from Miami. Because here they come Messi for Reguilon. Messi short this time. DePaul sends it in. Will that run continue? It's a giveaway off the restart and it's Messi running at Woolichy. Options out of side. Hands it off for Allende. So I think that's a missed opportunity there from Allende trying to go. Swing this into the near post. Came to enter Miami. Bounced around a number of clubs as you said all across different but you're gonna get a bigger push from Nashville in that second half. Just over a minute to play a first half stoppage time. Career goal but the job for his team only halfway Donna. Go up three to two but without two starters through suspension. Making life difficult like that right there. Missing that touch. Messi with Yazbek immediately for company and Woolichy helps as well. Messi. That's a great control. Pressure from Nashville but just allowing them to evade the pressure. Takes that cleanly. They're flying forward. Yeah it would have been 5v2. Messi for Allende. Back for Messi. Messi scores. Take the corner now. Outswing into the penalty spot. Only Hadi Mokhtar is there. In Qatar what was going to be a finalissima against Spain. Segovia for Messi. Out for Facundo Moura. Right on the turn trying to slip that through for Messi. Controls on Palacios. Opens up to the far side. Noah Allen cutting it back. Messi clipping it. Back in for De Paul. Messi opens it up to the far side. So that was there it's just decision-making and execution. And now Lionel Messi the other way from Miami takes the ball. Miami, Messi at the heart of it. The way he's shifting moves there and that's enough. At that point at full speed and he's trying to actually stay on his feet and then there was a there's another one. They get it clear off of Baker Whiting out for a throw. I felt like Messi. The field is a sub. Back in for Messi. Palacios and Espinosa defending. It's funny cuz I actually. They reached the quarterfinal two years ago. They reached the semifinal of the year. Messi will hook this into the back post and that was. Body away and give the positioning that you have in blocking the goal up and Baker Whiting just. Filming Lionel Messi. He'll swing this corner in. Schwalke able to get a two-headed puck. He's a combined goal and assist more than any active player. The 25,000th goal in MLS regular season history. Baker Whiting. Uh-oh. That one's given away. DePaul. Messi. Palacios docks it away. It's blocked. It might still be in. It comes off the bar. Espinosa smashes it home. Nashville SC tie the game but they lead the series on the away goal tiebreaker. Oh and Nashville had looked flat. They had not. They had the one chance through Mukhtar but they have quality in their team that can. Whether we need to go back and have a look at that. It wasn't called. It wasn't flied. The goal is completely. You have kitchen sink. Yes. Available on the bench. Here's Messi now. I would get him on five minutes. Two and a half minutes then stoppage time for Miami to try to find a winning goal. Nashville trying to hold on for a story. Wingers who can track back and help pinch with the opposing fullbacks. Messi, Suarez, Allende. Who hammers it home. St. Clair straightaway has got his arms up gesticulating that he felt. Anywhere. That's just pure quality. Pure quality. Messi opens it up to the far side. Be interested what this number is going to be because we haven't had many. It was only two in the first corner. BJ Callahan I think nervously. He wanted to achieve when coming to Nashville