MLS
MLS goal, assist and free kick records: which could Lionel Messi break?
Inter Miami will soon welcome one of the greatest players of all time to the league. The Argentine is certain to leave his mark on MLS.
In the next few weeks, seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi will make his debut for Inter Miami.
The Argentine is currently on vacation after the completion of the busy European season but is expected to join up with his Miami teammates in early July. His imminent arrival has be heralded as a huge milestone in the history of the game in the United States; perhaps the greatest player of all time spending the final years of his glittering career in MLS.
But while he represents a marketing bonanza, Messi arrives in the league with real ambitions to succeed on the pitch too. He may have just turned 36 but he has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with Miami, with the option of a further season.
Messi could well feature in 100 games for Inter Miami, and he could achieve an awful lot in that time.
We take a look at the MLS records that could be within reach for Messi...
What is the MLS goals record?
The all-time MLS goalscoring record is held by Chris Wondolowski, who racked up 171 goals during his 16 seasons in the league. That sort of figure will almost certainly be beyond even the outsized talents of Lionel Messi, but the single-season record could well be within reach.
The record for most goals in an MLS season is held by Carlos Vela, who scored 34 goals in 31 regular season matches in 2019.
It is difficult to see Messi hitting that figure in what is left of the 2023 season, but in his next two campaigns that could well be possible. To break Vela’s record he would need to score at a rate of more than one goal per game; a feat he managed five times with Barcelona.
What is the MLS assists record?
Landon Donovan holds the all-time MLS assist record with an extraordinary total of 136. That figure looks out of reach for Messi, but the Argentine may be able to beat the single-season record.
Colombian legend Carlos Valderrama set the MLS single-season assist record back in 2000, when he laid on 26 goals for his teammates. Messi has always been creative but he has become more of a conductor in the latter stage of his career, feeding the younger, more dynamic players with inch-perfect passes.
While playing for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1 Messi notched 30 assists in 58 appearances. He would be reliant on Inter Miami’s other forwards being able to finish the chances, but it is not unthinkable that Messi’s superior vision and range of passing could prove too much for most MLS defences.
What is the MLS free-kick record?
Given that he is unlikely to spend more than a few years in MLS, even Messi will struggle to get close to most records. However one area where the Argentine could challenge the all-time record is in direct free-kicks.
Sebastian Giovinco holds the current record with 13 goals from free kicks, a feat he managed in just three seasons. Messi should have a similar amount of time in the league and is essentially guaranteed to be the designated free-kick taker whenever he is on the pitch.
Messi’s most productive league season in terms of free kicks came in 2018/19, when he scored six in La Liga. If he can manage to score with that frequency for Miami, he could well write his name into the record books.
Failing that, he could at least earn bragging rights on the training ground. Inter Miami club president David Beckham scored seven MLS free kicks during his five-year spell as a player with LA Galaxy.