Lionel Messi would love to win an MLS title. But he definitely doesn’t need to

Widely regarded as the world’s greatest player, falling short in the MLS Cup playoffs is a blip in an otherwise remarkable career

Lionel Messi has won just about everything there is to win in world soccer — on both the international and club level.

So it’s surprising that the one trophy some would argue would be the easiest, an MLS Cup crown, is the one that alludes the global star following an early-round exit in the MLS Playoffs with Inter Miami last month.

It wasn’t as though Messi didn’t do what he needed to to help push the team forward; he finished the season with 21 goals and added 17 assists in a 22-game shortened season for him due to injury.

It’s a season for him that saw him announced as part of MLS’ Best XI on Tuesday and finds him as a finalist for league MVP. He was also the key piece who turned heads as Miami went from essentially the worst team in the Eastern Conference to the class of it, led by its 37-year-old roving magician.

Set to return for another year in Miami, Messi will not only chase an MLS Cup title in 2025 but will lead Inter as a CONCACAF representative in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup taking part in the United States next summer.

Photo by Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images

Even more incredible is for the man who has won just about everything in world soccer, he once famously surmised that it’s impossible

“Sometimes you have to accept that you can’t win all the time,” Messi said, who also noted, “There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.”

Nothing to prove

Messi is perhaps the greatest player of a generation, perhaps even two as Gen Z has access to all of the clips from his formative and breakthrough years with Barcelona, one that saw him win FIFA World Player of the Year awards a record-breaking six times.

Messi has eight in total and won the award four years in a row in addition to capturing 45 different club trophies, namely two UEFA Champions League titles.

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The last two years for his native Argentina have arguably been his finest in a uniform for La Albiceleste, winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and followed that up with Argentina’s win over Colombia in the 2024 Copa America this past summer.

He’s scored over 800 goals over a career that began in 1995 in Argentina. But flourished after he moved to Barcelona as an 13-year-old member of its youth academy in 2000. It took just five years following his move to Barca’s senior team to win his first Ballon d’Or title at just 22.

Fans of Messi and Inter Miami will see just how much capturing a major title with his MLS club means to him — he was pretty elated when Inter captured MLS’ Supporter’s Shield this year, given to the team that finishes with the best regular season record.

But to take another memorable quote from Messi, it would appear that if that doesn’t happen before he decides to call it quits on his illustrious career — well, that’s fine too.

“I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else,” he said during his latest Ballon d’Or win in 2023. “I’m more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When this is all over, what are you left with? When I retire, I hope I am remembered for being a decent guy.”