Lionel Messi led Inter Miami's charge in a 3-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup's first round at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Tuesday.
He opened the scoring with a masterful strike in the 19th minute before Luis Suárez (45+1) and Tadeo Allende (45+3) added goals as Inter Miami advanced with a 4-1 aggregate on Tuesday night.
They will take on Jamaica Premier League champions Cavalier FC in the Round of 16 on March 6.
Messi also scored in Miami's 1-0 win at Kansas City in the first leg last Wednesday.
Memo Rodríguez (63rd minute) scored Kansas City only goal, the team's first of 2025.
Miami scored on all three of its first-half shots despite Kansas City getting having most the opportunities early, with six shots and three on goal.
Messi slipped a through ball to Suárez, then controlled Suárez's pass off his chest and rifled it past John Pulskamp into the bottom right corner.
He also started Miami's second scoring opportunity with a perfectly placed ball into the path of Jordi Alba, who found Allende for the finish in the 45th minute.
Two minutes later, a misplayed touch by Kansas City's Jacob Davis led to Suárez's difficult goal that he bounced past Pulskamp.
Earlier on Tuesday, Messi was fined an undisclosed amount for grabbing one of New York City FC's coaching staff on the neck after Saturday's MLS opener, the league said.
Video footage showed Messi approach the coach and grab the back of his neck, causing him to pull away from the eight-times Ballon d'Or winner after the 2-2 draw in Miami.
The top-flight North American league also fined Messi's teammate Luis Suarez on Tuesday for violating the same "face/head/neck of an opponent policy" during half-time, when he pinched the back of Norwegian defender Birk Risa's neck.
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