TORONTO — You can stop Lionel Messi for a little while. But eventually, just when you think you’ve completely shut him down, he’ll come alive and find a way to burn you. He always does.
Saturday afternoon’s 4-2 win by Inter Miami over Toronto FC at BMO Field was the latest example of Messi turning a game on its head in his team’s favour after being relatively contained.
Miami went into the halftime break with a slim 1-0 lead after being outplayed for most of the first half in which Messi exerted little influence. But then the Argentine ace gave what the majority of the fans in attendance at BMO Field came to see — a performance from the famous No. 10 that they won’t soon forget.
Messi, an eight-time FIFA world player of the year, scored a goal and tallied two assists in the second half to pace the reigning MLS Cup champions to the victory.
In doing so, Messi became the fastest player in league history to reach 100 goal contributions with 59 goals and 41 assists in just 64 regular-season appearances – retired striker Sebastian Giovinco reached 100 goal contributions (58 goals and 52 assists) in his first 95 MLS games for Toronto.
Toronto could take pride in the job it did in minimizing Messi’s effectiveness through the opening 45 minutes. Early in the contest, TFC centre back Walker Zimmerman made a deft recovery to deny the speedster from getting on the end of a ball played into the penalty area with only goalkeeper Luka Gavran in front of the World Cup winner.
Later, Toronto fullback Kobe Franklin clattered into Messi just outside of Toronto’s 18-yard box, somehow avoiding being called for a foul by referee Victor Rivas while at the same time breaking up what would’ve been a dangerous scoring opportunity. A mazy run through the middle of the pitch by Messi just before the half-hour mark was capably dealt with by Toronto’s defenders who managed to squelch the danger before it fully developed.
Funny enough, Miami’s goal right before halftime came from Rodrigo DePaul, who scored on his own rebound attempt after taking a free kick that Messi normally would have taken.
The legions of fans in attendance wearing Miami, Argentina and Barcelona shirts with Messi’s name emblazoned on the back, and who chanted his name and oohed and aahed every time he was on the ball, were left wondering if their hero would provide them with a moment of genius that they had paid and expected to see.
They needn’t have worried. Toronto’s attempts to stop Messi proved fruitless as he put on a clinic in the second half.
His first assist of the day came in the 56th minute when he took a quick feed from DePaul and then immediately shifted the ball across the box to Uruguay striker Luis Suárez, who fired past a helpless Gavran.
The goal wasn’t without controversy as Toronto’s Raheem Edwards was down injured inside his box after being fouled and he kept the South American duo onside. While Toronto wanted Miami to kick the ball into touch, the visitors showed no mercy and played on, ruthlessly punishing their hosts.
A second assist for Messi came in the 73rd minute as Messi fed Spanish fullback Sergio Reguilon, who scored from close range.
Messi finally got in on the fun himself just two minutes later when he went on a probing run down the middle, played a ball into the box for De Paul, and then hammered home his teammate’s return pass from 12 yards out.
Toronto substitute Emilio Aristizábal scored two late goals to finish as the game’s top scorer and make the final score seem somewhat respectable. But the young Colombian’s brace as part of a valiant comeback effort by TFC that fell short was completely overshadowed by Messi’s man-of-the-match effort.
Several pitch invaders tried in vain to get a selfie with Messi in the dying minutes of the match, only to be effortlessly swept away by security members before they could even get close to him. At the final whistle, chants of “Messi, Messi” rained down from the stands.
Prior to this weekend, TFC had the third-worst attendance average in the league, just 16,144 fans per match. Last week’s 1-1 draw vs. the San Jose Earthquakes drew a season-high 19,021 spectators, well below the 21,374 fans the club averaged in 2026.
BMO Field normally seats just over 28,000 fans, but its capacity has been expanded to 45,736 seats with the addition of two temporary stands totalling 17,000 seats, as the stadium will be one of the host venues for this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
The stands at the north and south ends of the stadium were opened up for the first time on Saturday to accommodate the throng of fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Messi.
Even on the brink of his 39th birthday and on the downside of his career, Messi can still draw a crowd — Saturday’s announced attendance was 44,828, the biggest audience at BMO Field for a TFC game in the club’s 20-year history.