Miami, FL
Inter Miami CF's Lionel Messi named Player of the Matchday | MLSSoccer.com
Messi is the first player in league history to post at least 5g/5a through his first five games of the season. Additionally, he joined Thierry Henry (11 in 2012), Landon Donovan (10 in 2008) and Raúl Díaz Arce (10 in 1997) as the only players with at least 10 goal contributions in their first five games to begin a season.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup champion and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is also now tied for most goal contributions (10) in Major League Soccer with Real Salt Lake’s Cristian Arango. Since his arrival in July 2023, Miami have a 5W-0L-2D record in league games where Messi produces a goal or an assist.
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75% of the vote, while an X (formerly known as Twitter) fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.