Inter Miami vs. Nashville Messi wins Leagues Cup after penalty shootout

What a match. What a finish. And what a run for Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.

Inter Miami outdueled Nashville SC in a penalty kick shootout 10-9 to settle a 1-1 tie in the Leagues Cup final on Saturday night in Nashville, Tennessee.

Messi scored in the 23rd minute. Nashville’s Fafá Picault scored in the 57th minute. And both sides were inches away from winning it in the final minutes of regulation before needing 22 total penalty kicks to decide it.

Still, Messi’s presence cannot be denied.

“We were able to put ourselves in position where we could have stole it,” Nashville coach Gary Smith said. “You’re looking at the greatest player on the planet possibly being the difference on what happened today.”

Messi wins Leagues Cup best player award

Messi – who scored 10 goals in his first tournament action with Inter Miami – won the Leagues Cup top scorer and best player awards.

Inter Miami’s Drake Callendar – who blocked two kicks in the final minutes by reigning MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar, and Nashville goalkeeper Elliot Panicco’s final penalty kick to end it – won best goalkeeper of the tournament.

And the celebration began.

Messi’s teammates hoisted him in the air as they celebrated on the pitch..

Inter Miami coach Tato Martino and his coaching staff settled for a group hug full of smiles and some tears on the bench.

And David Beckham hugged his wife, Victoria, and fellow Inter Miami co-owners Jorge and Jose Mas in the stands as their vision for Messi in Miami came to fruition.

“It was a tight game for both teams. Any team could have won it,” said Martino, who coached Messi before with FC Barcelona and Argentina. “I was very impressed with the win. We came together."

We're just seven games into the Messi experience in Miami and MLS. And Messi has already helped Inter Miami win its first championship since joining the league in 2020.

Although this feels like what should happen when the world’s greatest soccer star joins what was an otherwise lowly MLS team before his arrival, this Leagues Cup final was fought to the very end.