After setting a regular-season points record, Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami have a chance to break two more important records in MLS 2024: wins and goals in a year.
As MLS 2024 enters the decisive playoff phase, Inter Miami are showing impressive form and showing that they are worthy candidates for the championship. A 2-1 victory over Atlanta United in the round of 16 not only brought Messi’s team closer to the title but also opened up the opportunity to conquer two remarkable historical records.
The first record that Inter Miami is aiming for is the number of wins in a year in MLS . Currently, the pink team has 23 wins (including regular season and playoffs), just 2 wins short of the record of 25 wins set by Atlanta United in 2018. Interestingly, coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino – who leads Inter Miami – is the one who helped Atlanta United set this record 6 years ago.
With their current form and the brilliance of Lionel Messi, it is not impossible for Inter Miami to surpass 25 wins, especially when they still have a chance to advance in the playoffs with the home and away format.
The second record Inter Miami are aiming for is goals in a year . After 35 games, Messi’s team has scored 81 goals (79 in the regular season and 2 in the playoffs). They need 10 more to surpass the record of 91 set by Los Angeles FC in 2019.
This is no small challenge, but with an attacking line in high form and world-class attacking stars like Messi and Suarez, scoring 10 more goals in the remaining matches is completely possible.
Looking at the statistics table, Inter Miami is currently ranked 6th in the list of teams scoring the most goals in a year in MLS, equal with DC United (81 goals, 1997). Ahead of them are notable names such as Columbus Crew and Chicago Fire (82 goals), or LA Galaxy (86 goals).
With the advantage of winning the first leg of the Round of 16 against Atlanta United, Inter Miami has a good chance to advance deep into the 2024 MLS playoffs. This means they will have more matches to conquer both of the above records. If successful, this will be the clearest proof of Inter Miami’s dominance in the top flight of American football, at the same time affirming the great influence of Lionel Messi since joining this team.
