Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF are Major League Soccer champions, defeating Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3-1 on Saturday and earning their first MLS Cup title.

Lionel Messi of Inter Miami CF celebrates winning the MLS Cup Final over the Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Chase Stadium on Dec. 6, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Rich Storry / Getty Images

The title came 2 1/2 years after the legend arrived in South Florida, a move that stunned plenty of onlookers at the time.

He set up the title-clinching goal with a 72nd-minute assist to Rodrigo De Paul, a play where Messi stole the ball and threaded a pass through a tiny gap in a wall of Vancouver defenders. De Paul got it in stride, pushed it into the far corner of the net — and Messi went airborne to hop into his arms a few seconds later,

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