Lionel Messi scored twice as Inter Miami beat the defending Major League Soccer (MLS) champions Columbus Crew 3-2 to clinch the Supporters’ Shield, given annually to the team with the best regular-season record.

The win on Wednesday gave Messi his 46th career trophy and Inter Miami a chance to secure a home venue advantage in the upcoming MLS playoffs.

It was Messi’s 46th major trophy for club or country, extending his record for the most by any men’s football player in history. And it is the second he has won with Inter Miami, after the Leagues Cup trophy the Herons claimed shortly after Messi joined the club in 2023.

“We knew this was a group that could fight for this [trophy],” Messi said after the match.

Luis Suarez also scored for Inter Miami, who will open a best of three first-round playoff series in the final weekend of October.

If they win that series, they have the right to play every match at home for the rest of the season, which includes an Eastern Conference semifinal (scheduled for November 23 or 24), the East final (November 30 or December 1) and the MLS Cup final on December 7.

“We have a nice opportunity to go down in history … and now we think about what is coming,” Messi added.

“We have a great advantage in that we play all the games at home, which was what we were looking for. I think that we are very, very strong at home.”

Inter Miami coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino was delighted with the “dominant” performance by his club.

“December 7 is what we want,” Martino said, referring to the MLS Cup final, “but this is not insignificant today.”

Messi missed 15 of Inter Miami’s MLS matches in 2024, either because of commitments to Argentina’s national team or the two-month absence that he needed to recover from a badly injured ankle – and that happened during his nation’s run to the Copa America title in July.

“Throughout the year we had many, many injuries, where we couldn’t all be together … but the group was getting the most out of every tough game,” the Argentina legend said.

The champion of MLS is determined by the winner of the MLS Cup playoffs – where Eastern Conference rivals the Crew and Miami could meet again.

Also still within reach for Inter Miami is the best MLS regular-season record after the win pushed them to 68 points. If the club win their final two matches – against Toronto and New England – they would finish with 74 points, a new single-season points record.

A fan holds up a homemade sign for Lionel Messi of Inter Miami CF before the game against the Columbus Crew in Columbus, Ohio [Jason Mowry/Getty Images via AFP]