Lionel Messi Scores Four Goals and Adds Assist in Inter Miami’s 7-1 Win
Lionel Messi scored four goals and added an assist to lead Inter Miami to a 7-1 victory over CF Montreal on August 30, 2026, ending a five-game winless streak for the defending champions. The win brought Miami to 42 points on the season, placing them second in the Eastern Conference standings.
Breaking the Skid Amid Front Office Turnover
The lopsided home victory arrived during a period of transition and uncertainty within the club’s coaching ranks. Cristian “Kily” González was hired as the club’s sixth manager since January 2020 on the Thursday prior to the match, though he could not take the sidelines due to a pending American work permit. Interim coach Guillermo Hoyos served a one-match suspension for violating league late-kickoff policies, leaving assistant coaches to manage the touchline while Hoyos watched from a stadium suite.
“They were in a bad way coming into tonight,” Apple TV play-by-play announcer Steve Cangialosi stated on the broadcast. “Not anymore.”
How the Seven-Goal Match Unfolded
Casemiro opened the scoring for Inter Miami with a 20th-minute header from a corner kick, before Montreal midfielder Fabian Herbers equalized in the 37th minute. Messi then took over the match. In the 40th minute, Messi curved a low-driven free kick that deflected off Montreal defender Luca Petrasso and goalkeeper Thomas Gillier to put Miami ahead 2-1 before halftime.
In the second half, Messi added three more goals. He netted his second in the 52nd minute by cutting past two defenders and ducking under another to finish with a right-footed shot. In the 80th minute, his one-touch chip allowed Luis Suárez to score, extending the lead to 4-1. Messi completed his hat trick in the 83rd minute with another chip over Gillier. After 18-year-old substitute Alexander Shaw scored from outside the box in the 89th minute, Messi capped the night with a final free kick in the 96th minute.
“You get to the point where you run out of words that are in the dictionary, because he is just extraordinary,” Apple TV analyst Danny Higginbotham said on the broadcast. “An absolute genius in every single phase of the game.”
Climbing the MLS and Career Scoring Ranks
With his four-goal performance, Messi sits atop the Major League Soccer Golden Boot race with 18 goals on the season, according to broadcast statistics. His career scoring tally reached 927 goals, placing him behind Cristiano Ronaldo on the all-time list.
The victory elevates Miami five points ahead of the third-place Chicago Fire while trailing Nashville SC by 10 points.