Messi Named to MLS Team of the Matchday After Miami Rout

Lionel Messi has been named to Major League Soccer's official Team of the Matchday for Matchday 29 after his brace fired Inter Miami's 4-0 rout of D.C. United.

Messi makes the league's best XI

Major League Soccer published its official Team of the Matchday for Matchday 29 on October 12, and Lionel Messi is in it. The league selected a 3-4-3 formation headlined by St. Louis CITY's record-chasing stars and Inter Miami's veterans, with Messi named among the four midfielders after scoring twice in the Herons' 4-0 drubbing of D.C. United at Nu Stadium.

The full starters read like a who's who of the weekend's biggest performances. Maxime Crepeau (Orlando) took the gloves; Reed Baker-Whiting (Nashville), Dave Romney (San Jose) and Ivan Angulo (Orlando) formed the back three; the midfield paired Messi with Andre Luiz (Sporting KC), Maren Haile-Selassie (Chicago) and Carlo Holse (St. Louis); and the attack lined up Luis Suarez (Inter Miami), Rafael Navarro (St. Louis) and Idan Toklomati (Charlotte). St. Louis interim coach Yoann Damet earned the coaching honors after CITY's 6-2 demolition of the LA Galaxy.

Rolled back the clock at Nu Stadium

Messi's inclusion came from a performance that carried extra emotional weight. This was his first Inter Miami appearance since his emotional international farewell — the October 6 night at the Monumental when Argentina beat Benin 3-0 and the captain closed his Albiceleste career. Any doubts about how the 39-year-old would respond vanished within 90 minutes on a rainy night in Miami.

Messi bagged a brace, including one trademark strike that found the top corner, while old friend Luis Suarez matched him with two goals of his own and an assist, and German Berterame chipped in a pair of assists. Together the attacking trident led new head coach Kily Gonzalez's 4-3-3 to a result that changed the mood around the club entirely.

Messi revives Miami at the perfect time

The league's own headline put it simply: Messi revives Miami. The defending MLS Cup champions had won just one of their last 10 league matches before the Walmart Saturday Showdown with D.C. United — a slump that had left the juggernauts looking anything but. The 4-0 rout was, in the league's words, a dramatic change to that picture.

Timing matters now. The regular season has only a few short weeks left, Decision Day is looming and the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs kick off just days later. If this was Messi flipping the switch into playoffs mode, the remaining schedule looks manageable — and few teams will want to face a Miami side with its captain hitting form at exactly the right moment.

Suarez joins him; Holse headlines the rest

Messi is not the only Heron in the best XI. Luis Suarez was named up front after his 2g/1a performance, and the TOTM bench includes yet more Miami flavour waiting in reserve. The rest of the league provided the headlines elsewhere: St. Louis CITY's Carlo Holse was named Player of the Matchday after notching a hat trick inside the first 21 minutes against the Galaxy, part of a first-half blitz that saw CITY score five.

St. Louis' 6-2 win extended their unbeaten run to 20 matches across all competitions, matching the league record set by the New York Red Bulls in 2016. Rafael Navarro added two goals and two assists for the leaders, while Charlotte's Idan Toklomati inspired a remarkable comeback from 2-0 down to beat FC Dallas 3-2 with two goals, an assist and a stoppage-time winner.

Flashscore agrees: a 9.2-rated weekend

The official TOTM was not the only weekend honours board with Messi's name on it. Flashscore named the Argentine in its global Team of the Weekend, headlining the XI alongside Christopher Nkunku and Antoine Griezmann and handing Messi a 9.2 rating — one of the highest marks of the round.

The data outlet noted that there are few better at following up a momentous occasion with something sensational days later, pointing out that Messi would have been forgiven had his mind still been on the Monumental. Instead he scored a brace with one vintage top-corner strike, as Miami thrashed D.C. United 4-0. In Flashscore's all-MLS attack, Suarez joined his captain after his own brace, alongside St. Louis forward Carlo Holse and Orlando's Griezmann, who scored and assisted in a thrilling 3-2 win over Columbus.

What the honors mean for Messi's post-Argentina chapter

Context makes these honors matter more than a routine weekly selection. Messi retired from international football during the autumn window, closing a 21-year Argentina story with a goal in a 3-0 win over Benin at the Monumental. The question was always what his football would look like afterwards — and the first answer is emphatic: a brace, a 4-0 win, a place in the league's best XI and one of the weekend's highest global ratings.

The honors are stacking up quickly in this stretch. Before the TOTM selection, Messi had already collected MLS Goal of the Matchday awards for Matchday 28's impossible-angle free kick at Columbus, and the league's MVP Power Rankings still have him on top with 23 goals as the final stretch begins. A historic MVP three-peat is within reach — and if Matchday 29 is any guide, the farewell tour in Argentina was not the end of the story. It was the start of a new chapter, written in pink.

The night that turned the season

It is worth remembering what Saturday looked like before kickoff. Inter Miami had won once in 10 league games, the defending champions' aura was fading, and the league's own preview asked bluntly whether Messi and Miami had lost their groove. The answer arrived over 90 minutes of rain at Nu Stadium: four goals, a clean sheet and a statement that the champions are still here.

Berterame's two assists deserve their own mention — the kind of selfless work that does not always make the headlines but wins matches — and Dayne St. Clair kept goal as Miami finally looked like the team the league had sold all season. With the remaining fixtures described by the league itself as manageable, the Herons now have the one thing money cannot buy: momentum, and a captain who has made a career out of finding it at exactly the right time.

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