Inter Miami CF Forward Lionel Messi Named MLS Player of the Month for October 2025

Messi becomes the first player in MLS history to earn five Player of the Month honors in a two-season span

NEW YORK (Tuesday, October 21, 2025) – Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi was voted the MLS Player of the Month for the month of October 2025.

Messi shined once again in October, recording a league-best 10 goal contributions (five goals, five assists) in just three matches. His 10 goal contributions over a three-game stretch were tied for the third most in MLS history – a record he also owns (12 goal contributions from April 20 – May 4, 2024). Messi produced either the game-winning goal or game-winning assist in two of Miami’s three victories during the month of October – the game-winning assist vs. the New England Revolution (Oct. 4) and the game-winning goal vs. Atlanta United (Oct. 11). With his hat trick against Nashville SC on Decision Day, Messi won the 2025 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi, finishing the season with 29 goals.

Messi is the third player since 2005 to score at least 29 goals in a Golden Boot-winning season, joining Josef Martínez (31 in 2018) and Carlos Vela (34 in 2019), and his 1.03 goals-per-game average is second to only Vela’s 2019 campaign (1.10 goals per game) among Golden Boot winners since 2005. Twenty-eight of Messi’s 29 goals this season came away from the penalty spot, the most in a single season in league history by three goals. Messi’s season has contained a multitude of record-setting performances, as the World Cup-winner became the first player in MLS history to record 10 multi-goal games in a single season, breaking the previous record of eight shared by three players.

Messi finished the 2025 regular season with 48 goal contributions across 28 matches, the second-most in a single season in league history, including at least three contributions in nine matches – also a league record. He is the only player in league history to record at least 36 goal contributions in a season multiple times (2024, 2025) and is the second player in MLS annals to lead the league in both goals scored (29) and assists (19), joining Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco in 2015 (22 goals, 16 assists).

This is the third time Messi has earned MLS Player of the Month honors this season (May and July), and the fifth time in his career. He is the first player in league history with at least five Player of the Month honors in a two-season span. Messi is also the third player in MLS history to win three Player of the Month awards in the same season, joining Carlos Vela in 2019 and Chris Wondolowski in 2012.

Messi and Miami next begin their Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs journey in the Round One Best-of-3 Series as they host Nashville SC at Chase Stadium in Game 1 on Friday, October 24 (8 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass and Apple TV, FS1, Fox Deportes, TSN, RDS).

MLS Player of the Month is voted upon by a panel of select national media members in a process conducted by MLS Communications.