# Messi assists Inter Miami to first MLS Cup title with 3-1 win over Vancouver

Lionel Messi’s first MLS Cup appearance ended with Inter Miami lifting the trophy for the first time, a result that underlined how quickly the club has turned its ambitious rebuild into a championship run.

Inter Miami beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 in the final on December 6, with Messi recording two assists and Rodrigo De Paul scoring the decisive goal in the 71st minute. Tadeo Allende added a late clincher deep in stoppage time to settle the match after Vancouver had briefly pulled level.

The win gives Miami its first MLS title and adds a league championship to the list of trophies the club has collected since Messi arrived in the summer of 2023. He had already helped the side win its first trophy, the cross-border Leagues Cup, shortly after his move. In 2024, Messi won his first league MVP award and helped Miami finish with the Supporter’s Shield, only for the team to fall in the first round of the playoffs.

The final also highlighted the broader project around Messi in South Florida. He has been joined in Miami by former Barcelona teammates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, along with Argentina teammate De Paul. Javier Mascherano, who took over as manager before the 2025 season, is another figure with deep ties to Messi’s career, having played alongside him for both Barcelona and Argentina.

Miami opened the scoring in the eighth minute through an own goal after a pass from Messi helped create the chance. Vancouver then equalized in the 60th minute when Ali Ahmed’s shot found its way through Miami goalkeeper Rocco Ríos Novo. But the tie did not last long. De Paul, set up by Messi, restored Miami’s lead 11 minutes later, and Allende’s stoppage-time finish turned a tense final into a more comfortable scoreline.

Vancouver had chances to push the game deeper into doubt. Emmanuel Sabbi struck the post while the score was level, and the Whitecaps also created pressure in the second half after their equalizer. But Miami found the key moments when it mattered most, and Messi’s influence was present in the build-up to both the first and second goals.

The result also matters beyond the single night in Fort Lauderdale. Inter Miami was founded only in 2020 and is partly owned by David Beckham. The club is due to move into a new stadium next season, adding another milestone to a project that has already reshaped its profile in MLS.

Beckham called the first title an opening step rather than an endpoint as the celebrations unfolded. For Miami, the message from the final was clear enough without any grand claims: a team built around Messi has now delivered the league’s biggest prize, and it did so with a performance shaped by his passing, the finishing of his teammates and a late burst that closed the door on Vancouver.