Inter Miami CF captain Lionel Messi was voted the Major League Soccer (MLS) Player of the Month for October 2024.
Messi was tied for the MLS lead with six goal contributions (five goals, one assist) in the month and his five goals were two more than any other player in the league over the span. The Landon Donovan MLS MVP nominee scored the game-winning goal at the Columbus Crew on October 2 and added the game-winning assist on Decision Day against the New England Revolution. This past Saturday, Messi became the first player in MLS history to score three goals and produce an assist in a substitute appearance. With the win, Inter Miami set the MLS single-season points record (74), eclipsing the previous record held by the Revolution (73 in 2021).
Messi finished the season with an MLS-high 36 goal contributions (20 goals, 16 assists), which was the fifth most in league history despite only playing in 1,485 minutes. He joined Carlos Vela in 2019 (34 goals, 15 assists) and Sebastian Giovinco in 2015 (22 goals, 16 assists) as the only players in MLS history with at least 20 goals and 14 assists in a single season. In Messi’s 19 MLS appearances this season, he produced a goal or assist in 15 of those and had multiple goal contributions 11 different times. The Herons recorded a 12-1-6 record in those 19 matches with Messi in the lineup. Along with the MLS points record, Inter Miami became the third team in league history to win 22 matches in a regular season and the first to record at least 11 wins at home and 11 wins on the road (excluding the shootout era).
This is the second time that Messi has been named MLS Player of the Month this season, after previously doing so for his performances in the month of April. With teammate Luis Suárez also earning the honor for the months of February/March, Inter Miami became the third club in the last decade to win the award three different times in the same season, joining the Los Angeles Football Club in 2019 and Atlanta United in 2018.
Messi and Inter Miami CF will kick off Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs Round One Best-of-3 Series action against the winner of the Eastern Conference Wild Card match in a standalone match on Friday, October 25 (8:30 p.m. ET) exclusively and for free on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
MLS Player of the Month is voted upon by a panel of select national media members in a process conducted by MLS Communications.
