Lionel Messi becomes first back-to-back MLS Golden Boot winner with 26 goals

Lionel Messi has become the first player to win the MLS Golden Boot in successive seasons after finishing the 2026 regular season with 26 goals for Inter Miami. MLS confirmed the award on Saturday, with the forward ending four goals ahead of FC Dallas striker Petar Musa and five clear of Nashville's Sam Surridge. BBC Sport also reported the milestone.

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Messi's goals came across 31 appearances in his fourth MLS season. He added 17 assists, taking his combined total of goals and assists to a league-leading 43. The league said he was the first player to reach at least 40 goal contributions in consecutive campaigns. His output followed a 2025 regular season in which he scored 29 goals and supplied 19 assists.

The scoring breakdown underlined how little his total depended on penalties: only one of his 26 goals came from the spot. According to MLS, his 25 non-penalty goals rank second in the league's single-season history, behind the 28 he scored in 2025. He also finished with six game-winning goals and six matches in which he scored more than once.

Messi is the sixth player to collect the league's scoring honour twice. MLS listed Bradley Wright-Phillips, Chris Wondolowski, Jeff Cunningham, Taylor Twellman and Preki as the previous multiple winners, but none claimed it in consecutive years. The league's historical list includes the period from 1996 to 2004 when the award used a points formula combining goals and assists, before the switch to goals alone.

A further individual record remains possible rather than secured. Messi could become the first three-time winner of the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award, having taken that honour in 2024 and 2025. Those seasons also brought team trophies: Miami won the Supporters' Shield in 2024 and followed it with the club's first MLS Cup championship in 2025.

Miami did not finish first in the Eastern Conference this time. The club enters the playoffs as the second seed, with seventh-seeded Columbus Crew its opponent in a best-of-three first-round series, according to MLS. BBC Sport reported that Miami ended the regular season 17 points behind conference leader Nashville, despite Messi again finishing as the league's leading scorer.