Lionel Messi won the 2026 Major League Soccer Golden Boot after finishing the regular season with 26 goals. The Inter Miami forward became the first footballer in league history to win the scoring title in two consecutive years.
Messi finished ahead of Petar Musa of Dallas, who had 22 goals, and Brian White of the Vancouver Whitecaps, who scored 20. The Argentine is now one of only six footballers to have won the award more than once.
“Messi is golden once again. He has become the first player in MLS history to win consecutive scoring titles,” Major League Soccer announced.
26 goals in 31 matches
In his fourth MLS season, Messi scored 26 goals in 31 appearances. He finished first for average goals per match with a rate of 0.87 and topped the league in total goal contributions with 43.
The Argentine recorded six multi-goal matches, sharing the top spot in that statistic. He ranked second for goals per 90 minutes with a rate of 0.91.
Only one of his goals during the season came from a penalty. Messi therefore ended the campaign with 25 non-penalty goals – the second-best tally in MLS history. The only player ahead of him in this category is Messi himself, with his record of 28 goals in 2025.
75 goals in three seasons
After scoring 29 goals in 2025, Messi became the second player in MLS to score at least 25 goals in two consecutive seasons. Over the last three campaigns, he has scored a total of 75 regular-season goals – the second-best tally for such a period in league history.
Messi joined Denis Bouanga as the only other footballer to score at least 20 goals in three consecutive years. Bouanga achieved this between 2023 and 2025.
With his 43 goal contributions in 2026, Messi also became the first player in MLS history to record at least 40 such contributions in two consecutive seasons. His tally is the third-best for a single campaign.
Over the last three seasons, the Argentine has had 127 direct goal contributions. Evander is second in this ranking with 98 over the 2024–2026 period.
Sources: sportal.bg