Lionel Messi joins Ibrahimovic in exclusive MLS club after scoring for Inter Miami vs Seattle Sounders

In Inter Miami’s win over Seattle Sounders, Lionel Messi scored a goal and reached a milestone in Major League Soccer previously achieved by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Lionel Messi scored one of Inter Miami’s goals in the 3-1 victory over Seattle Sounders, helping his team secure three key points while also reaching a personal milestone in Major League Soccer that has only been matched by a few stars, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Argentine forward had faced criticism last week after missing a penalty against Charlotte FC, which contributed to a tough 3-0 loss. However, he quickly bounced back with a strong performance on Tuesday at Chase Stadium, where he scored a goal and assisted Jordi Alba.

With that goal, Messi reached 20 for the season and became one of only five players in MLS history to score at least that many in two consecutive seasons. Before him, the only ones to do it were Josef Martinez, David Villa, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Denis Bouanga.

Villa scored 24 goals in both 2016 and 2017 while playing for New York City FC during the final stretch of his career. Martinez netted 31 and 27 goals for Atlanta United in 2018 and 2019, respectively. During the same period as the Venezuelan striker, Ibrahimovic starred for LA Galaxy with 22 and 30 goals in back-to-back years.

The most recent player to accomplish this feat before Messi was Bouanga, who scored 20 goals for Los Angeles FC in 2023 and 2024. The Gabonese player is close to repeating the achievement for a third time, having already scored 18 goals this season with several matches still to play.

Messi’s goals for Inter Miami

The 2025 campaign marks Messi’s third season in MLS. His first can barely be counted, as he arrived late in 2023 and played only six matches, scoring once. His first full year was 2024, in which he led Inter Miami to the Supporters’ Shield title by scoring 20 goals in 19 games.

This season, Leo has had even more involvement: he has already played in 21 matches and has several more ahead. So far, he sits second on the MLS top scorer list with 20 goals, just one behind Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge.

Looking at all competitions in 2025 — including MLS, the Concacaf Champions Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and Leagues Cup — Messi has scored 28 goals in 36 appearances for Inter Miami. On top of that, he’s also added two more goals with the Argentina national team.

Messi pulls ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo

The goal against Seattle Sounders also helped Messi surpass Cristiano Ronaldo in a particular stat. The Argentine forward became the youngest player in soccer history to reach 880 career goals, achieving the mark at 38 years and 84 days old, after 1,122 matches.

Before Leo, only Ronaldo had reached that milestone. However, the Portuguese striker did so at an older age (39 years and 54 days) and needed more games (1,214). Currently, CR7 has 943 goals and is still chasing the 1,000-goal mark.