Lionel Messi scored the 100th goal of his Inter Miami career and Casemiro added another as Miami defeated Cruz Azul 2-0 on Wednesday night to win the Campeones Cup.
2026 CONCACAF League Champions Cup
2-0
Match Report
Lionel Messi scored his 100th Inter Miami goal and got an assist to secure the Campeones Cup in a 2-0 win over Cruz Azul.
New head coach Cristian "Kily" Gonzalez lifted a trophy in his first match in charge, as Messi and Casemiro were on target at Nu Stadium.
Cruz Azul started strongly, with Jose Paradela firing a pacy shot just wide of the right upright that had Dayne St. Clair worried, before Carlos Rotondi tested the goalkeeper.
But it was Messi who opened the scoring in the 24th minute as he rose above his defender to get on the end of Luis Suarez's clipped delivery and nod past the unsuspecting Kevin Mier.
Suarez saw an improvised lob cleared off the line by Willer Ditta less than 10 minutes later, while St. Clair stretched to tip over Agustin Palavecino's long-range strike at the other end to keep Miami in front at the break.
Cruz Azul stepped up the pressure again in the second half, with Gabriel Fernandez's glancing header hitting the far post, but they could not find a way through.
And their wastefulness was punished, as Casemiro was left unmarked at a corner, and he planted Messi's delivery into the bottom-left corner in the 81st minute.
Paradela saw a late free-kick pushed away by St. Clair, but Miami held out to get their hands on the Campeones Cup for the first time in their history.
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— Inter Miami CF (@InterMiamiCF) September 17, 2026
Messi hits century to extend trophy haul
Messi has lifted a trophy in each of his four seasons at Miami, and he has now extended his record trophy haul to 48 titles between club and country, with four of those coming in North America.
He is not often known for his heading ability, and Cruz Azul were unable to stop him from netting his 100th goal for the Herons across all competitions.
Messi reached that landmark in his 115th game for Miami, and it is one that no other player has reached in the club's history.
He already has 23 goals in 2026 so far, but he also added an assist to his performance on Wednesday – having created a team-high three chances – to secure the victory.
Cruz Azul will be disappointed, though, as they had17 shots in total, 10 more than Miami managed, but the Herons were clinical, converting two of their three efforts on target and overperforming their 1.21 expected goals (xG). The reigning Mexican champions only generated 0.63 xG.
Line-ups
Inter Miami CF XI: Messi, Suarez, Casemiro, De Paul, Germán Berterame, Maximiliano Falcón, Dayne St. Clair, Facundo Mura, Matías Galarza, Yannick Bright, Fricio Caicedo
Subs: Reguilon, Luis Barraza, Rocco Ríos Novo, David Ayala, Gonzalo Luján, Micael, Ezequiel Abadia-Reda, Santi Morales, Dániel Pintér, Preston Plambeck, Alexander Shaw
CD Cruz Azul XI: Agustín Palavecino, Nicolás Ibáñez, Carlos Rodríguez, José Paradela, Carlos Rotondi, Kevin Mier, Willer Ditta, Érik Lira, Jeremy Márquez, Amaury García, Jesús Orozco Chiquete
Subs: Fernandez, Gonzalo Piovi, Alan Mozo, Christian Ebere, Andrés Gudiño, Emmanuel Ochoa, Alán Montes, Luka Romero, Omar Campos, Andrés Montaño, Ralph Orquin, Rogelio González