SoFla Guide Editors
Yes, Lionel Messi is in the lineup tonight. Inter Miami host New York City FC at Nu Stadium in Miami at 7:30 p.m. ET on Apple TV, according to the club’s official site, and the record chase everyone keeps whispering about is still alive. Messi sits on 23 regular-season goals, per ESPN’s official MLS stats page, which leaves him 11 short of Carlos Vela’s single-season mark of 34.
So, can he break it tonight? No. Nobody is scoring 11 in one game, not even him. But every goal from here on tightens the math, and a Wednesday night home date against a struggling NYCFC side is exactly the kind of evening where the number tends to move.
Where things stand
Let’s get the stadium thing out of the way first, because it still trips people up. This is a Nu Stadium match, not a Chase Stadium match. Inter Miami moved from Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale to Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park in April 2026, and Chase Stadium now hosts Inter Miami CF II in MLS Next Pro. If you are driving to Fort Lauderdale tonight, turn around.
Inter Miami come into the game with 13 wins, 5 losses and 10 draws for 49 points, good for second in the Eastern Conference, per the club’s official site. NYCFC are a long way behind, sitting 10th in the East with 8 wins, 11 losses and 9 draws for 33 points, according to the same source.
The visitors are not in great shape. They lost 2-1 at Chicago Fire FC in their most recent outing and have won just once in their last 12 matches heading into tonight. This is also their first trip to Nu Stadium, the club’s site noted, since every previous visit to South Florida came at Chase Stadium.
The numbers behind the chase
Messi’s season line, per ESPN, reads 23 goals and 13 assists in 25 regular-season appearances. That already puts him top of the 2026 MLS scoring charts.
It also fits a pattern. MLSsoccer.com reported that Messi became just the second player in MLS history to score 20 or more goals in three consecutive seasons, joining LAFC’s Denis Bouanga, who did it from 2023 through 2025. Messi hit that milestone during Inter Miami’s 2-2 draw with San Diego FC on Matchday 27.
For context, last year he finished the regular season with 29 goals and 19 assists in 28 games, according to MLSsoccer.com’s season stats. That 29 was the second-highest single-season total in league history and earned him the Golden Boot. The only number above it is Vela’s 34 from 2019.
So the gap between Messi’s best MLS season and the all-time record is five goals. The gap between tonight’s starting point and the record is 11. You do not need a calculator to see why people are watching the box score so closely.
A big year, even without the record
Record or not, 2026 has already been a milestone year. Messi scored his 100th goal for Inter Miami across all competitions in the 2026 Campeones Cup final, a 2-0 win over Cruz Azul in September, MLSsoccer.com reported. That trophy came on the heels of the club’s 2025 MLS Cup triumph, a 3-1 win over Vancouver Whitecaps at Chase Stadium last December, where Messi was named MLS Cup MVP.
He is not going anywhere soon, either. Messi signed a contract extension with Inter Miami in October 2025 that runs through the 2028 MLS season, per ESPN. For South Florida fans, that means the question is less “how long do we have him” and more “how many of these nights can we squeeze in.”
How to watch tonight
Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. ET at Nu Stadium in Miami, and the match streams on Apple TV, according to Inter Miami’s official site.
If you are heading out, give yourself time. It is a midweek game at the newer venue, and Messi nights have a way of drawing a crowd. If you are watching from the couch, keep one eye on the scoreboard and the other on the goal count, because 23 is the number to beat and the record conversation gets louder with each one he adds.
Inter Miami will be looking to protect second place in the East. NYCFC will be trying to stop a slide that has produced a single win in 12 games. And Messi will be trying to do the thing he always does, which is make the numbers look a little more ridiculous than they did the day before.
