{"id":402299,"date":"2026-09-17T07:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T07:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/402299\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T07:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T07:40:11","slug":"lionel-messis-100th-inter-miami-goal-delivers-campeones-cup-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/402299\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi’s 100th Inter Miami goal delivers Campeones Cup trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI – Lionel Messi<\/a> scoring a trophy-clinching goal for Inter Miami CF<\/a> at their sparkling new home? These are the kind of nights Nu Stadium was built for.<\/p>\n

Sure enough, the legendary No. 10 made the dream come true on Wednesday night, scoring a stunning header for his 100th Miami goal and adding a late assist in a 2-0 win<\/a> over LIGA MX powerhouse Cruz Azul that clinched the 2026 Michelob ULTRA Campeones Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, the Herons have four titles to their name during the Messi era, including a first-ever piece of silverware at their state-of-the-art, 26,700-seat home ground in downtown Miami.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have words to describe what I\u2019m feeling,\u201d new head coach Cristian \u201cKily\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez told reporters after beginning his tenure with a trophy. \u201cIt\u2019s joy, happiness, so many emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLeo told me he\u2019d make me a champion, so he kept his word.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Historic night<\/p>\n

When Nu Stadium officially opened its doors in April, Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas celebrated the occasion<\/a> as\u00a0\u201ca new chapter of lifting additional trophies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Five months later, Messi & Co. delivered as promised, outclassing the reigning LIGA MX and Campe\u00f3n de Campeones winners with a vintage performance from the iconic captain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Messi went airborne in the 24th minute to nod home Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a>\u2019s cross, setting the stage for a memorable night as he scored his 100th goal across all competitions for the Herons. The Superior Player of the Match then linked up with marquee summer signing Casemiro<\/a> in the 81st minute, the Brazilian international heading Messi\u2019s corner kick past goalkeeper Kevin Mier to wrap up the title.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As expected, Mas reveled in the moment he\u2019s fantasized about for months, if not years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always said Inter Miami is being built to lift trophies,\u201d Mas told Apple TV amid the post-game festivities. \u201cObviously, it helps to have the best player in the world of all time, Lionel Messi\u2026 I think we saw vintage Messi tonight.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd looking forward to more. We\u2019ve still got a lot to play for. I want to lift another. It’s the first trophy we lift in our new stadium, so it’s an amazing night. And we’re going to continue pushing, pushing the envelope, aspiring to be the best team in the Americas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Unmatched success<\/p>\n

With Wednesday\u2019s heroics, Messi extended his record trophy haul<\/a> to 48 titles between club and country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fresh off leading Argentina to the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> final over the summer, the most decorated soccer player of all time initially took the winner\u2019s podium on his own, lifting the Campeones Cup as the Nu Stadium crowd roared its approval.<\/p>\n

His teammates joined him shortly after for the official trophy ceremony, before returning to the pitch to show off their latest piece of silverware to La Familia supporters\u2019 group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy always wants to win, and it’s an inspiration. Because when you see him doing it, it’s contagious,\u201d midfielder Yannick Bright<\/a> said of Messi. \u201cI\u2019m happy. I’m honored. Honestly, it’s the highlight of my life having him as a teammate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I mean, thank him for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Trophy tradition<\/p>\n

Scenes like the above are what motivated Miami execs to pull off the biggest signing in club and MLS history in July 2023, with the transformational arrival of Messi. An A-List supporting cast including Su\u00e1rez and the since-retired Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba (who was at Wednesday\u2019s game), among others, helped the two-time Landon Donovan MLS MVP give the Herons a trophy in each of his four seasons in South Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, something was missing during the club\u2019s memorable Leagues Cup<\/a> 2023, 2024 MLS Supporters\u2019 Shield and MLS Cup 2025 presented by Audi-winning campaigns: a proper place to call home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That changed with Nu Stadium\u2019s opening this year. And the championship vibes are also different, now that the Herons have brand new digs where they can further build their legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen to the fans right now, this is what it is to play here,\u201d said goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair<\/a>. \u201cThe standard, the expectation is to be able to lift trophies every season.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a standard that Gonz\u00e1lez embraces as he ushers in a new era at Miami.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said yesterday, you can be assured that this team will give everything to win many more trophies.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI – Lionel Messi scoring a trophy-clinching goal for Inter Miami CF at their sparkling new home? These…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[143221,5429,16163,123,125,124,159273,4959],"class_list":["post-402299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-campeones-cup","tag-inter-miami-cf","tag-match-reaction","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miavscaz-09-16-2026","tag-sendtonews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}