Concachampions: Messi reaches 900 goals on a bitter night for Miami

Lionel Messi reached 900 goals in his extraordinary professional career on Wednesday, but the achievement was overshadowed by the elimination of Inter Miami in the round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions Cup.

The Argentine star reached the mark just seven minutes into the second leg of the game against Nashville SC.

Historic left-footed strike in Fort Lauderdale

The Inter captain received a pass inside the box from Spaniard Sergio Reguilón, controlled the ball and struck a powerful left-footed shot to open the scoring at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, aa city neighboring Miami.

However, another Argentine, Christian Espinoza signed the 1-1 definitive 1-1 in the 74th minute, a result that left Miami out by the away goal rule, after the 0-0 of the first leg in Nashville.

A blow to Inter's project

After winning their first MLS title in 2025, lifting the CONCACAF trophy was Inter's big goal for this season.

"It's a very sad night, one of much disappointment. We had the illusion of advancing in the competition," lamented coach Javier Mascherano.

A historic night despite elimination

Although elimination is a blow to the club's ambitious project, the match will go down in history as the night Messi reached 900 goals.

The Argentine now has 81 goals in the pink jersey of Miami, in addition to the 672 he scored with FC Barcelona, 32 with Paris Saint-Germain and 115 with Argentina's national team.

On his way to 1,000 goals

The 38-year-old striker had scored his 899th goal last March 7 in the 2-1 win against DC United for the third MLS matchday.

Four days later he was unable to score in the first leg against Nashville, and the previous Saturday Mascherano decided to rest him for the league match against Charlotte.

The coach was looking to have his star player at full strength for a special night for the franchise, co-owned by David Beckham, which also meant the farewell to Chase Stadium, his home since joining MLS in 2020.