Messi favored in Golden Boot, MVP races as Inter Miami faces Nashville on Saturday
Lionel Messi, who has won just about everything there is to win in soccer, is on the verge of adding the MLS Golden Boot trophy to his collection. He also has built a strong case to become the first player in league history to win back-to-back MVP awards.
The 38-year-old Argentine World Cup champion has scored a league-high 26 goals heading into Inter Miami’s regular-season finale on the road at Nashville SC on Saturday. He holds a two-goal lead over Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga and a three-goal lead over Nashville’s Sam Surridge.
Even if Bouanga or Surridge were to tie Messi, he had the edge on both tiebreakers, which are assists and the fewest minutes played. Messi has 18 assists (tied for best in MLS) and has played 2,330 minutes. Bouanga has eight assists and 2,569 minutes. Surridge has five assists and 2,850 minutes.
“If we can help Leo to win the Golden Boot, it would be fantastic,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said Friday morning, before the team headed to Nashville. “We will try to do everything as much as possible to help him to try to win that.”
Mascherano went on to say that Messi, his former teammate with FC Barcelona and Argentina’s national team, is deserving of the MVP award, as well.
“There is no doubt, it is indisputable,” he said. “Even though he has played far fewer games than others, the impact and influence he has on our team… to measure Leo solely by his stats, which we could do, and he is the best, but it goes beyond his numbers. It’s his importance on the field and the enjoyment he gives everyone who has a chance to see him.”
Other candidates for MVP include Bouanga, Surridge, Andres Dreyer of San Diego and Evander of Cincinnati.
Messi has more than just individual accolades at stake on Saturday. Inter Miami sits in third place in the Eastern Conference standings and can move up to the No. 2 seed in the playoffs with a win and a Cincinnati tie or loss against Montreal.
Nashville is sixth in the East, with only three points separating them from the three teams below them in the standings.
Nashville has the edge over ninth-place Columbus Crew because it has won more games. Orlando City and Chicago Fire can overtake Nashville, in which case they would drop to the play-in game.
If the regular season ends with Miami and Nashville in their current positions, they would face each other again in the first-round of the playoffs, a three-game series that would begin next weekend with a home game at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
“We expect a difficult game against Nashville, a team that won U.S. Open Cup and they, like us, can move up the standings with this game,” Mascherano said. “They can decide their own fate, while we have to rely on Cincinnati’s result.”
Five of the six Miami players who were on national team duty are back and fit to play Saturday. The only one still missing is Mateo “Toto” Silvetti, who is playing for Argentina in the U20 World Cup final on Sunday night after scoring the decisive goal in the 1-0 semifinal victory over Colombia.
Asked whether Silvetti will be available for the start of the playoffs, Mascherano said he spoke to the young forward and urged him to focus on the U20 World Cup until Sunday and not think about his club obligations.
“I am very happy for Toto for how he is giving his all and has clearly played an important role for Argentina,” Mascherano said. “He was not a starter in all the games, but when he went in, he made a difference. We prefer right now that he keep his head in the [U20] final. That is a very important game in his career. We don’t want to distract him.”
The coach said he is happy for all the players who got called up to their national teams and stressed how important it is for the club and for younger players such as Pembroke Pines native Noah Allen, who plays for Greece’s U21 team and Coconut Creek’s Ian Fray, who made his first appearance for the Jamaican senior team.
“It was amazing, the team atmosphere was really good, and it was exciting for me,” Fray said. “It’s something I had never experienced, not even in youth, representing a national team. So, just doing that was another check mark in what I want to accomplish.”
Jamaica, which has not qualified for the World Cup since 1998, is one of the favorites in its regional group to advance to the 2026 World Cup. Fray said it would be a dream to go from the Inter Miami academy to the World Cup.
“We feel we’re the best team in the Caribbean. It would be the first time in almost 30 years, so we’re really excited about that,” he said. “It’s good to test myself on the international level.”
Fray, whose contract expires at the end of this season, said he aspires to play in Europe. There are rumors that some European clubs are interested, but he said for now he is fully focused on Saturday’s game and the MLS playoffs.
Inter Miami center back Maxi Falcon is back after serving his one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
Saturday’s game will be the final regular-season game Messi plays alongside his Barcelona teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, both of whom announced in recent weeks that they will retire at the end of this season.
“It could be a little bit nostalgic, the last game between them in the regular season, but know we have more games coming in the playoffs and hopefully the last game for all of them together will be the sixth of December, in the final,” Mascherano said.
How to Watch: Inter Miami vs. Nashville SC kicks off at 6 p.m. Saturday and will be broadcast on Apple TV MLS Season Pass.
Messi Cup to Debut in December
Messi and his production company, 525 Rosario, announced the launch of the inaugural Messi Cup, a U16 tournament in South Florida that will feature Inter Miami, Barcelona, Manchester City, River Plate, Inter, Newell’s Old Boys, Atletico de Madrid and Chelsea. The tournament will take place Dec. 9-14 and the teams will compete in 18 matches, culminating with the final at Chase Stadium. Tickets are available at messicup.com
This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 3:40 PM.