Lionel Messi scored twice and added an assist as Inter Miami came from behind to beat FC Cincinnati on the road on Wednesday, extending the club's MLS away winning streak to five in a result that lifted Miami back into the upper half of the Eastern Conference table. The Argentina forward's brace and assist combination steered the comeback, Al Jazeera reported, and the win marked Miami's fifth consecutive away victory in the league.
Inter Miami's roster looks substantially different from the last visit to Cincinnati, ESPN reported, with several rotation changes around
Messi since the previous matchup. The captain's output, however, remains the throughline that has held the road run together. Cincinnati had taken an early lead before Miami's response built through the second half.
The brace and assist were the decisive contributions that turned the match, Al Jazeera reported. ESPN's match preview piece, published earlier in the day, set up the visit by describing the gap between Miami's current setup and its lineup from the prior fixture, while pointing to
Messi's sustained form as the constant.
The result follows MLS's recent disclosure that
Messi remains the league's highest-paid player at $28.3 million for 2026, a figure more than twice the next-ranked salary at Los Angeles FC. Wednesday's performance came in the run-up to the next league matchday and keeps Miami in the playoff conversation through the early summer stretch.
The road run now stands as the longest in Inter Miami's MLS history. The five away wins have come against a mix of conference opponents, and the squad has continued to lean on
Messi for late-game decisive moments even as the surrounding roster has turned over. Cincinnati had been one of the conference's stronger home sides this season, which made the comeback notable in the conference standings calculation.
Figures referenced: Lionel Messi. — JudgeMarket.