Lionel Messi assisted Rodrigo de Paul in the 71st minute and Tadeo Allende in second-half stoppage time as Inter Miami pulled away to defeat the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 and win their first MLS Cup.

The two plays sealed Miami’s third major trophy and first MLS Cup since the club began MLS play in 2020, all of those coming since Messi joined the Herons in 2023.

“This was always my dream,” Miami co-owner David Beckham, who also won two MLS Cups with the LA Galaxy as a player in 2011 and 2012, told Fox postgame. “My dream was to bring a club to this city and be successful. Also to bring in the best player in the world. So tonight has been pretty surreal. It’s a moment that I’ll cherish forever.”

The win also prevented Messi from finishing a season without a major club trophy for the first time since the 2020-21 La Liga season, his last with FC Barcelona. He also was named MLS Cup MVP.

The 38-year-old Ballon d’Or winner finished the playoffs with six goals and nine assists, registering at least one goal or assist in all six of Miami’s playoff matches while easily posting an MLS record for goal contributions in one season.

Messi, de Paul, and Sergio Busquets also became the first players to win both a World Cup and an MLS Cup.

For Busquets and compatriot Jordi Alba, the win also came in their last game after both announced their upcoming retirements earlier this year.

“These are the best players at their position of all time,” defender Ian Fray told Fox. “Look at them, they’ve been doing this for 20 years now, winning World Cups, winning everything. And to just be a part of their story a little bit and help them finish off their careers, you can’t put that stuff into words, man.”

Allende’s goal was his ninth of the playoffs, breaking a record set by the LA Galaxy’s Carlos Ruiz, who also helped his side win its first MLS Cup in 2002.

Allende’s cross much earlier set up Miami’s opening goal, ultimately an own-goal credited to Vancouver defender Edier Ocampo.

Ali Ahmed pulled Vancouver level in the 60th minute during the Whitecaps’ most dominant stretch of the afternoon.

Only two minutes later, Emmanuel Sabbi had two efforts strike the post in a matter of moments as Vancouver briefly looked the more likely side to find a late winner and become the team to win its first MLS Cup title.

“Today, obviously, we cry, but what’s important is that it’s proud tears,” Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen said afterward.

But in a match where Messi was held to few dangerous direct scoring chances, he made the decisive plays to set up others.

In the 71st minute, he started with something the defending World Cup champion is less known for, an alert defensive play to pressure Vancouver’s Andres Cubas into a turnover in his own half.

From there, Messi looked up quickly and spotted de Paul sprinting between the defenders in Vancouver’s back line.

De Paul timed his run perfectly to reach Messi’s throughball first while remaining onside, calmed himself with his first touch and then fired a well-placed second beyond the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka on Miami’s second shot of the half.

His second assist came 25 minutes later and might have been even better, as he chested down Jordi Alba’s long ball with his first touch and then played Allende into space with his second for a simpler finish on the break past Takaoka.

That sealed the title for Miami, which had previously never advanced past the first round of the postseason, and also played under league transfer sanctions in 2022 after violating MLS roster rules in their first season.

“I mean look around here, this is beautiful,” said Fray, who turned pro after coming through Miami’s youth academy. “We’ve gone through some really tough times at this club. To see it now, it all happened for a reason. Trust in God, and everything fit the plan.”

The ending was painful for the Whitecaps.

“It was amazing. That’s why a lot of us are a little emotional,” Ahmed said of the run to the MLS Cup final.

“The camaraderie we have in this group, the tightness we have in this group, we’re all united. Everybody’s bought in. … It would have been very special winning MLS Cup with this group.”

–Field Level Media