Messi scores another hat-trick as Inter Miami breaks MLS points record

With a hat trick from Lionel Messi starting as a substitute, Inter Miami crushed the New England Revolution 6-2 on Saturday to close the MLS regular season with a record points tally.

Inter, which was already guaranteed to get first place in the overall standings, celebrated its achievement at an on-field ceremony. There, the league announced it will play in the new Club World Cup 2025 as a representative of United States, which is the host country.

With their game on Saturday, Inter reached 74 points and thus surpassed the New England, which had the record of 73 held since the 2021 season.

Gerardo Martino's team will begin the playoffs next Friday in a best-of-three round against the winner of a playoff between Montreal and Atlanta United, who finished eighth and ninth in the Eastern Conference.

On Saturday, a comeback by Uruguay's Luis Suarez in the 40th and 43rd minutes cancelled out the Revolution's two early goals by Argentina's Luca Langoni ('2) and Colombia's Dylan Borrero ('34).

Messi started on the bench after scoring another hat-trick in Tuesday's 6-0 game of Argentina against Bolivia in South American qualifying for the World Cup-2026.

He was put into the game in the 58th minute and just seconds later was involved in the play for the third goal by U.S. Argentine Benjamin Cremaschi before completing his own hat trick in just 11 minutes.

Messi scored from outside the area in the 78th and rounded off the hat-trick with goals in the 81st and 89th off passes from Spain's Jordi Alba and Suarez.

At 37, the former Barcelona star finished the season with 20 goals and 16 assists in 19 games played. He is one of the favorites for the MVP (Most Valuable Player) award. He is ready to compete in his first playoffs since his arrival in the United States in the middle of last year.

Club World Cup invitation

Messi and Suarez, who also scored 20 goals on the course, finished second in the tournament's Golden Boot table, which was won by Belgian Christian Benteke (DC United) with 23 goals in 30 games.

"I have the feeling that we have him (Messi) in an ideal situation to face the most important part of the year," Martino said in congratulating his team on the record.

"These 74 points were not something planned, nor that we had as a goal when the season started, but when it became at hand we tried to achieve it," he said.

After the victory, the Inter players received the Supporters' Shield trophy in front of FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

At the celebration, Infantino confirmed that the franchise co-owned by David Beckham will play the first Club World Cup, which has been expanded to 32 teams.

Inter will also host the opening match of the World Cup on June 15, 2025 at Hard Rock Stadium.

Real Madrid, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are among the 12 qualified European teams.

The South American teams include Argentina's River Plate and Boca Juniors and Brazil's Flamengo, Fluminense and Palmeiras.

The only place still open for the tournament will go to the winner of the Copa Libertadores.

LAFC leads the West

The final day of the regular phase also featured a heart-stopping battle between Los Angeles FC (LAFC) and neighboring Galaxy for the lead in the Western Conference.

LAFC, led by Frenchmen Hugo Lloris and Olivier Giroud, held on to the top seed thanks to a 3-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes coupled with the Galaxy's 2-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo in a crazy stoppage time.

Brazilian Gabriel Pec made it 1-1 on a penalty kick for the Galaxy in the 90+6th minute but American Daniel Steres ruined his former team's lead with an accurate header in the 90+11th.

LAFC, champions in 2022, will face the winner of the playoff between Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps while the Galaxy will go up against the Colorado Rapids.

Colombian 'Cucho' Hernandez’s Columbus Crew,  defending champions, will kick off the playoffs against the New York Red Bulls.