Lionel Messi claims back-to-back MLS MVP awards and leads Miami to glory

For the second straight year, Lionel Messi has been named the Most Valuable Player of the 2025 MLS season, once again taking home the Landon Donovan Trophy. The Inter Miami star delivered a spectacular campaign, finishing with 35 goals and 28 assists in 34 matches.

 

Argentina’s Clarín highlighted the scale of Miami’s attacking output this year, noting that the team reached 101 goals, with “Messi… involved in 63 of them.”

 

Inter Miami’s Transformation Under Messi

 

Messi joined the South Florida club in July 2023, when Inter Miami was sitting at the bottom of the league table. The following year, he played his first full season from January to December, earned the MVP award, but saw Miami fall in the opening round of the playoffs.

 

The 2025 season told a very different story. Inter Miami climbed to the top of American soccer, winning the MLS Cup, a milestone achievement for a franchise founded in 2018 by José and Jorge Canosa along with David Beckham. They had never captured a league title before Messi’s arrival. 

 

Reflecting on the team’s evolution, Messi said, “It’s a joy because when we arrived at this club it was a great challenge to be able to take it to the top, because it was a new club.”

 

Since he joined, Miami has collected the Leagues Cup, the Supporters’ Shield, and now the MLS Cup, completing a remarkable trophy haul in just over two years.

 

A Demanding but Rewarding Year

 

Messi described the season as one filled with high-stakes football and relentless competition. “This year we had so many games, so much competition. We competed, we reached finals, semifinals, we went to the Club World Cup, we did very well,” he said.

 

A standout moment came on December 6, 2025, when David Beckham celebrated on the field in Fort Lauderdale with Messi as they lifted the MLS Cup trophy together.

 

Expanding an Extraordinary Trophy Legacy

 

Now 38, Messi has continued to build on one of the most decorated careers in sports history. His achievements now include:

 

34 titles with Barcelona

 

3 with Inter Miami

 

3 with PSG

 

6 with Argentina, including the 2022 World Cup and two Copa América victories

 

Messi Commits to Inter Miami’s Future

 

After months of negotiations, Messi has formally agreed to a new contract with Inter Miami, ensuring he remains with the club as it prepares to move into its new stadium next year.

 

Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano emphasized Messi’s impact on and off the pitch:

“To enjoy him, watching him enjoy doing the things he is doing, he’s very, very competitive and he tries to translate that to the team,” he said. “The best way to help him is trying to do the right things … he has to be comfortable on the pitch. He’s comfortable when things are working in the right way. With him, when we do things the right way, we’ll have many chances to have success.”