Lionel Messi joins Cristiano Ronaldo in the 900-goal club as Nashville eliminates Miami from the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Published March 19, 2026
Cristian Espinoza scored a second-half goal to lead Nashville SC to the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, defeating Inter Miami on a milestone night for Argentina star Lionel Messi.
Wednesday night’s game in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., ended 1-1, with both teams tied at 1-1 in total goals scored. Nashville advanced with an away goals tiebreaker.
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Messi took the lead in the seventh minute with his 900th goal for club and country, but reigning MLS Cup champions Miami were unable to find the back of the net again.
Nashville will play either the Philadelphia Union or Mexico’s Club America in the quarterfinals.
After a fierce battle in front of the Miami goal, the hosts got the goal they needed. Alex Muill’s shot was blocked, but ricocheted into the air and headed towards the goal line, where Herons goalkeeper Dane St. Clair smashed it home in traffic. The rebound spilled over to a free Espinoza, who fired a right-footed shot inside the far post.
Early on, Sergio Reguilon set up Messi’s 10-yard shot, which went between the legs of a Nashville defender on his way to the goal.
Messi ranks second in soccer history for career goals, behind Portugal’s Al Nasr star Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 965 goals.
Club America 1, Philadelphia Union 1 (Club America won 2-1 on aggregate)
Rodrigo Dourado’s sixth-minute goal helped Liga MX side Club América thwart Philadelphia’s comeback in Mexico City and advance to the quarterfinals.
After Club America won the first leg 1-0 in Philadelphia last Tuesday, Dourard scored his first goal since joining in January, heading in Rafael Veiga’s line-drive free kick.
Union got one back in the 49th minute with Jesus Bueno’s penalty for a foul by Alex Zendejas on Frankie Westfield. However, Philadelphia did not have a single shot on goal for the rest of the game, missing three shots and having another blocked.
Andrew Lick made two saves in the first half, giving Union a chance to come back from failing to score.
