Messi Shines with Brace and Two Assists in Inter Miami’s 5-1 Rout of Columbus

Lionel Messi produced a stunning performance on Saturday, scoring twice and providing two assists as Inter Miami cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer.

The dominant display comes just before Miami head to the Club World Cup, where they’ll face Al Ahly on June 14. After a rough patch, Miami look rejuvenated, following up their 4-2 win over Montreal midweek with another statement performance.

Messi, who was instrumental in the win over Montreal alongside Luis Suarez, picked up where he left off. He dropped deep to deliver a long pass to Argentine teammate Tadeo Allende, who opened the scoring in the 13th minute.

Two minutes later, a costly error from Columbus goalkeeper Nicholas Hagen gifted Messi a chance to double the lead, which he did with a chipped effort that deflected off the scrambling keeper.

In the 24th minute, Sergio Busquets caught the Crew off guard with a perfectly floated pass, and Messi lobbed Hagen again to make it 3-0.

Columbus responded with a powerful header from Cesar Ruvalcaba in the 58th minute, but any hope was quickly extinguished. Messi led a break through the middle, feeding Telasco Segovia who set up Suarez to make it 4-1.

The World Cup winner capped off his stellar outing by assisting substitute Fafa Picault for the fifth goal.

Messi now departs for international duty with Argentina, who face Chile on Thursday and Colombia on June 10 in World Cup qualifiers — though Argentina have already booked their place at the 2026 tournament.