Lionel Messi can achieve career first in Inter Miami-Vancouver Whitecaps MLS Cup Final

Lionel Messi can tick another career accomplishment off the list if he and Inter Miami can beat the Vancouver Whitecaps in Saturday’s MLS Cup final

Lionel Messi can cross one more item off his lengthy list of career accomplishments if he and Inter Miami can win this weekend’s MLS Cup final.

Messi, who laid out his bold expectations for the 2026 World Cup, and Inter Miami face the Vancouver Whitecaps in a winner-take-all clash to cap the 2025 MLS season on Saturday afternoon, and one major roadblock stands in their way.

One of Messi’s longtime rivals, Thomas Muller, plays for Vancouver and has a track record of getting the better of the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner in major tournaments.

This time, Miami is favored to lift the MLS Cup trophy with a price of -240 to lift the trophy, while Vancouver is listed at +185 to become champions. Messi, who led MLS this regular season with 29 goals, is -170 to score in the match, while Muller is +260 to find the back of the net.

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Saturday’s fixture will mark the first meeting between Messi and Muller since both joined MLS, but during their days facing off for their respective national and club teams, it was almost always the German who came out on top.

Muller, who joined the Whitecaps after 17 seasons with European powerhouse Bayern Munich, is one of the most underappreciated clutch performers and winners in the modern era of soccer.

The 36-year-old has won almost every major trophy possible in his storied career, including 13 Bundesliga titles, two Champions Leagues, and the 2014 World Cup, in which he and Germany defeated Messi and Argentina in the final 1-0 after extra time.

That is the only major final the two have faced off in, with Messi now looking for revenge in Saturday’s MLS Cup final.

That World Cup final is one of several famous examples of Muller getting the better of Messi when it matters most. Messi’s FC Barcelona also finished on the wrong end of more than one Champions League drubbing at the hands of Muller’s Bayern Munich.

The most memorable of the bunch came in the 2019-20 Champions League quarterfinal, when Bayern handed Barcelona its worst defeat in club history with an 8-2 trouncing in which Muller scored twice.

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In total, Messi and Muller have met eight times at the club or national team level, with the latter emerging victorious eight times. In those games, Muller has seven goals to Messi’s three.

The pair also met in the 2010 World Cup quarterfinal, 2023 Champions League last 16, and 2013 Champions League semifinal, all of which were won by Muller’s side.

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