Lionel Messi eyes milestone goal when Inter Miami visits Nashville SC

NASHVILLE — When Lionel Messi steps onto the Geodis Park pitch on Wednesday night, he will be chasing more than a first-leg advantage in the Concacaf Champions Cup. The Argentine star is one strike away from the staggering threshold of 900 career goals, and the opponent he has tormented more than any other since arriving in Major League Soccer stands in his way.

Messi’s 899th goal came only days ago, a decisive finish in Inter Miami’s 2-1 victory over D.C. United in Baltimore. A repeat performance against Nashville SC (7:30 p.m. ET, FS2/TUDN) would etch the round-of-16 opener into the record books and inch the Herons toward a competition that doubles as a pathway to the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.

The short trip to Tennessee has become a familiar one. Miami and Nashville have met 11 times since Messi’s July 2023 unveiling, and the ledger is lopsided: three regulation draws, a lone Nashville victory, and seven Inter Miami wins. Among those results are the 2023 Leagues Cup final, settled on penalties, and last year’s Champions Cup tie, which Miami captured after a 2-2 aggregate deadlock.

Nashville’s lone outright triumph arrived at this venue—an overtime Game 2 in the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs—yet even that high point was tempered by a Game 3 defeat that ended the series and propelled Miami toward the league title.

“They are a rival with a chip on their shoulder,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano warned on Tuesday. “Their fans will put pressure on us, and they will want revenge. We have to be prepared.”

Mascherano’s squad is still integrating a wave of offseason reinforcements: striker German Beterame, center back Micael, right back Facundo Mura, and Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair. The timeline for left back Sergio Reguilón’s return from a preseason knee injury remains uncertain. Even so, Miami opened the 2026 MLS campaign with two wins and a draw, mirroring Nashville’s start.

Nashville, for its part, advanced to this stage by dismantling Atlético Ottawa 7-0 on aggregate and will lean on 2025 MVP finalist Sam Surridge, former league MVP Hany Mukhtar, and ex-MLS Cup winner Andy Nájar.

Yet the spotlight will fall, as ever, on Messi. The 37-year-old has produced 15 goals in 10 competitive meetings with Nashville—his most against any club since joining MLS—and needs one more to reach the milestone that has dominated headlines since Saturday night.

“Clearly, we don’t appreciate the magnitude of it,” Mascherano admitted. “Nine hundred goals is an incredible feat for a unique player. Hopefully we can help him reach 900 tomorrow, or even surpass it. That would mean we scored away from home, which is vital in this competition, and give us the chance to decide the tie in front of our fans.”

The return leg is scheduled for March 18 at Inter Miami CF Stadium, after which attention will turn to the April 4 unveiling of Nu Stadium at Miami Freedom Park. Before that, Miami must navigate a compressed slate: Charlotte FC on March 14, the decisive Champions Cup leg four days later, and NYCFC on March 22. Messi could also feature for Argentina in the March 27 Finalissima against Spain and a March 31 friendly in Qatar.

First, though, comes the momentous pursuit of goal No. 900, and Nashville—rival, spoiler, and frequent foil—has the unenviable task of delaying history.