Leo Messi Named MLS Player of the Matchday Presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 8
MLS Inter Miami CF

Leo Messi Named MLS Player of the Matchday Presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 8

Published on April 20, 2026 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Inter Miami CF News Release


Inter Miami CF captain Lionel Messi's stellar performance against Colorado Rapids on Saturday afternoon earn him Major League Soccer (MLS) Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA honors for Matchday 8.

Messi played an influential role with a brace in Inter Miami's 2-3 road win over Colorado. Our captain first opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 18th minute of play, before scoring our winning-goal in spectacular fashion in the 80th minute.

The two-time Landon Donovan MLS MVP winner and current MLS Golden Boot holder has now scored seven times in seven games, which is tied for second in MLS this season. With his brace, Messi now has 18 multi-goal games in his first 60 MLS appearances and 28 games with at least two goal contributions. Since the start of 2024, Messi has 91 goal contributions (56 goals, 35 assists), which is tied for the third-most in a three-season span in league history (Denis Bouanga from 2023-25), and is two behind the all-time record held by Luciano Acosta (93 from 2022-24).

This marks the 14th time in his career that Messi has been named MLS Player of the Matchday and it his is second award this season after earning the honor on Matchday 2. Messi is now tied with Jeff Cunningham (14) for the second-most Player of the Matchday awards in MLS history, behind only Landon Donovan (19).

The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob ULTRA 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 percent of the vote, while an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.

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