Messi mania: Argentine superstar wins 1st MLS Golden Boot, sets new record

Miami [US], October 19 : Argentina's FIFA World Cup-winning legend Lionel Messi secured the Golden Boot in the Major League Soccer (MLS), ending the season with 29 goals.

Messi outclassed Nashville SC's Sam Surridge and LAFC's Denis Bouanga, who each scored 24 goals to secure his first MLS Golden Boot, after missing out last year to Christian Benteke by three goals, as per Goal.com.

Messi made history as he became the first Inter Miami player to secure an MLS Golden Boot and the second Argentine player to secure the honours, following Valentin "Taty" Castellanos, who scored 19 goals for New York City FC in 2021.

The superstar footballer's 29-goal haul places him amongst players with the most prolific MLS campaigns in history, with only Josef Martinez (31 in 2018) and Carlos Vela (34 in 2019) having scored more in a Golden Boot-winning campaign since 2005.

Messi's 1.03 goals per game is only behind Vela's 2019 season, while his 28 non-penalty goals are a new MLS record, outdoing the previous mark by three goals.

He scored his first hat-trick of the season on Decision Day and set a new record to become the league's first-ever player with 10 multi-goal matches, outdoing Stern John (Columbus Crew, 1998), Mamadou Diallo (Tampa Bay Mutiny, 2000), and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy, 2019), who all had eight such matches.

His 29-goal campaign is the 10th of his legendary career, with his best one being a 50-goal season for Barcelona in the 2011-12 campaign.

During this MLS season, Messi had a total of 48 goal contributions, including 19 assists, ranking second-best in MLS history, just behind Vela's 2019 season, when he scored 34 goals and 15 assists. He's also the second player to lead the league in scoring and assists, following Sebastian Giovinco's 22 goals and 15 assists season in 2015.

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