Inter Miami suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat against LAFC in their 2026 Major League Soccer season opener. Lionel Messi‘s team struggled to find inspiration, and their rivals capitalized with goals from David Martinez, Denis Bouanga, and Nathan Ordaz.
During the first half, the hosts clearly dominated the Herons. Backed by a solid defense that neutralized their opponents’ strengths, LAFC recovered the ball far from their own goal and used their attackers’ speed to create dangerous chances.
In that context, Son Heung-min came close to scoring when he faced goalkeeper St. Dayne one-on-one and got past him. However, the South Korean forward ran out of space to finish and passed to Denis Bouanga, whose shot was saved by the keeper. A few minutes later, David Martinez received a pass from Son and fired with precision to score the opener. He came close again soon after, but this time his shot went just wide.
After the break, coach Mascherano made changes to try to turn the team’s performance around, and he partially succeeded. The Herons were better organized on the field and imposed themselves, but lacked accuracy in front of goal and struggled against Bouanga’s speed, who scored the second goal in the 72nd minute after dribbling past goalkeeper St. Clair. In stoppage time, Nathan Ordaz added the third and final goal.
For Inter Miami, it was their first defeat of the 2026 season in their opening match. Their next challenge comes next Sunday against Orlando City. LAFC, meanwhile, will play the second leg of the first round of the Concacaf Champions Cup on Tuesday, looking to maintain their 6-1 advantage from the previous match against Real España.