NEW YORK (Monday, August 31, 2026) – Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA for Matchday 23 of the 2026 MLS season.
Messi scored four goals and added one assist in Inter Miami CF’s dominant 7-1 victory over CF Montréal at Nu Stadium (Watch Highlights From His Performance Here). It marks the first time in his MLS career that Messi has scored four goals in a regular season match, and he is the 19th different player in league history to accomplish this feat. Messi also owns one-fourth of all the regular-season games in MLS history with at least five goal contributions, having now done this three separate times in his career. By producing multiple goals, Messi became the fastest player to hit 20 multi-goal games in the regular season, doing so in just 72 total matches. The seven goals scored by Miami in the contest was the most in club history in a regular-season game.
With the game tied 1-1 in the 40th minute, Messi gave Miami the lead again with a free kick that was deflected into the roof of the net (Watch Here). He scored his second goal of the night in the 52nd minute, dribbling past several Montréal defenders before a perfect right-footed finish (Watch Here). The two-time Landon Donovan MLS MVP added an assist in the 80th minute when he picked out Luis Suárez for Miami’s fourth goal of the match (Watch Here). He then completed his hat trick three minutes later when he pounced on a turnover and chipped the Montréal goalkeeper (Watch Here). Messi added an exclamation point during second-half stoppage time with another free kick goal, with this one perfectly struck past the diving goalkeeper (Watch Here).
This is the third time Messi has been named MLS Player of the Matchday in 2026 (Matchdays 2 and 8), and it is the 15th honor in his career. Messi has now eclipsed Jeff Cunningham (14) for the second-most Player of the Matchday awards in league history, behind only Landon Donovan (19).
Messi and Miami will look to continue their remarkable scoring form when they host Atlanta United on Saturday, September 5 at Nu Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS on Apple TV).
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
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