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AUSTIN, TEXAS – JULY 23: Sam Surridge of Nashville SC and MLS All-Star scores the team’s first goal … More
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Despite Lionel Messi backing out of the 2025 MLS All-Star Game, the league’s best defeated the Liga MX All-Stars 3-1 on Wednesday night at Q2 Stadium, home of Major League Soccer’s Austin FC.
The match marks the fourth time in five years that MLS and Liga MX competed against one another in the midsummer event. MLS now has the upper hand with a 2-1-1 record.
Nashville SC forward Sam Surridge, who is tied with Messi for the league-lead in goals (18), tallied the opening goal for MLS in the 28th minute. Philadelphia Union forward Tai Baribo — who was named the Player of the Match — scored in the opening minutes of the second half to give MLS a 2-0 advantage.
In the 63rd minute, though, 16-year-old Club Tijuana phenom, Gilberto Mora, cut the lead in half before Vancouver Whitecaps FC striker, Brian White, scored an insurance goal for MLS in the 80th minute.
Meanwhile, since Messi didn’t participate in the All-Star Game, it led some critics to question if the 38-year-old’s absence may spell doom and gloom for the midsummer event in the future. Fellow Inter Miami FC teammate and All-Star selection, Jordi Alba, also didn’t participate in the All-Star Game after being voted in by fans.
Both players could face a one match suspension for missing the All-Star Game without a reported injury, according to league policy. Messi — who is one of the highest-paid athletes in the world, according to Forbes — still has yet to play in an MLS All-Star Game after joining the league in mid-2023 from Paris Saint-Germain of Ligue 1.
Ahead of Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game, MLS Commissioner Don Garber said that the league is “managing through that process as we speak” regarding if Messi in particular will face any suspension. Inter Miami, which currently sits in fifth place in the Eastern Conference with a 12-5-4 mark, resumes play Saturday night as it hosts FC Cincinnati at Chase Stadium.
Starting July 29, MLS and Liga MX teams will also once again meet in the monthlong Leagues Cup, the annual Concacaf sanctioned club tournament.
[NEWS]
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