FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – APRIL 09: Lionel Messi #10 of Inter Miami CF celebrates after scoring the team’s first goal during the CONCACAF Champions Cup 2025 Quarter-final second leg match between Inter Miami CF and Los Angeles Football Club at Chase Stadium on April 09, 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
(Megan Briggs via Getty Images)
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami stormed back from two goals down to top LAFC in a chaotic CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday.
In a reprise of the most recent World Cup final, Messi beat LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris from the penalty spot to complete a triumphant comeback, and claim a spot in the semifinals of North and Central America’s premier club competition.
An hour earlier, Messi had kick-started the comeback with a wonderful goal. That brought Inter Miami level in the second leg of this two-part series. But they were still behind on aggregate after last week’s first leg, which ended 1-0 to LAFC; and behind on away goals, after LAFC’s Aaron Long scored in the 9th minute of Wednesday’s decider.
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So, the hosts needed three goals. Messi sent the first rippling into the top corner.
In the 61st minute, a bizarre second goal slipped past Lloris, and the hosts began to believe.
The third, though, seemed elusive. Luis Suárez thought he’d scored it in the 67th minute; Chase Stadium erupted, and for a fleeting moment, Miami had a lead. But an an assistant referee’s flag annulled the goal. A VAR review apparently confirmed that Suárez was narrowly offside — though the VAR seemed to have drawn digital lines from the wrong LAFC defender.
Inter Miami fumed. Head coach Javier Mascherano spun in circles, in search of answers. Thousands of fans felt wronged.
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Messi, though, from the moment he saw the flag, stayed calm.
And so, when LAFC inexplicably failed to clear an uncontested ball in its own penalty box — when it dropped onto Marlon’s arm, and when VAR recommended a check, and when referee César Ramos pointed to the penalty spot — Messi stepped up.
He froze Lloris, just as he’d done twice on December 18, 2022, in Qatar.
He dragged Miami to the semis, where they’ll face either the Vancouver Whitecaps or Liga MX club Pumas.
And he kept dreams alive.
This story will be updated. A full blow-by-blow recap is below.
