Seattle routs Messi’s Miami to win Leagues Cup title

Published 10:00 am Monday, September 1, 2025

SEATTLE — The Seattle Sounders were wounded and weakened, overlooked and undermanned, but on Sunday at a rocking Lumen Field, they beat Lionel Messi and Inter Miami to the 2025 Leagues Cup title.

In front of 69,314 mostly-partisan fans in Seattle, the Sounders won the 2025 final, 3-0, and frustrated Miami, so much so that, at the final whistle, the Herons instigated an ugly melee that will surely result in disciplinary action.

The sight of players from both teams brawling on the field at the conclusion of the match, with punches thrown and Miami’s Luis Suárez appearing to spit at a Sounders staffer, will draw headlines and scrutiny from MLS officials, but didn’t stop the Sounders from eventually celebrating their victory.

Seattle won with several players injured or suspended. Inter Miami, on the other hand, had its Fantastic Five all fit and available. On one side, there were reserves and homegrown kids. On the other, there were Messi and Suárez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, Rodrigo de Paul and arguably the greatest and most accomplished roster on paper that MLS has ever seen.

But in the 26th minute, there was Osaze De Rosario, a 24-year-old striker who’s played far more often for Seattle’s second team, the Tacoma Defiance, than he has for the Sounders.

De Rosario, the son of MLS great Dwayne De Rosario, headed in the game’s opening goal. Lumen Field, the joint home of the Sounders and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, erupted.

Late in the second half, Georgi Minoungou, another Tacoma Defiance product, won a penalty. Alex Roldan converted to seal the victory.

And Paul Rothrock, another one, a 26-year-old from Seattle, about 10 minutes away from Lumen Field, scored a third to start the party.

Messi, meanwhile, was visibly frustrated throughout the first half. He berated referee Juan Calderón and jawed with Sounders players. He was neutralized by Obed Vargas and Cristian Roldan.

In the second half, he snuck into the penalty box undetected, and had a free shot from eight yards away, but skied it over the crossbar.

Messi couldn’t re-conjure the magic of his 2023 Leagues Cup run. That summer, he kicked off an unforgettable month with a match-winning free kick in his very first appearance for Miami. He and Inter captivated American soccer, and viewers worldwide, throughout the inaugural edition of this mid-season tournament, a joint venture between MLS and Liga MX. Ticket prices skyrocketed. Fans flocked to the team’s hotels, to its training ground, and to stadiums. Messi Mania instantly boosted the monthlong competition, and the Argentine’s 10 goals in seven games led Miami to its first-ever trophy.

Over the two years that followed, the Leagues Cup lost some of its luster. Even Inter Miami played some of its 2025 games, including its semifinal at home against Orlando, in front of thousands of empty seats.

But when Messi won that semifinal with goals in the 77th and 88th minutes, the final in Seattle became a grand occasion. The Sounders opened the upper deck of Lumen Field, and filled it with a tournament-record crowd.

And most importantly, many of the 69,314 in attendance were wearing rave green.

There were Messi fans, because of course there were Messi fans. But Seattle rallied around its humble team. The Sounders even offered fans the opportunity to trade in a Messi jersey for a Paul Rothrock jersey, which some did. They leant into the authentic, homegrown nature of their club. They raised scarves and a tifo. They rallied behind head coach Brian Schmetzer’s cheeky, viral comment on Friday.

“I mean, Messi is, arguably, the best player the world has ever seen. But we have Paul Rothrock,” Schmetzer said as he broke into a smile. “And we have Jackson Ragen.” At this point he audibly chuckled. “And we have Snyder Brunell, and we have Andrew Thomas, and we have Pedro [de la Vega]. We’ve got good players too.”

All were, and are, nobodies compared to Messi and friends. But on the night, as a collective, they were better. They pressed and hassled Miami’s stars. Ragen stayed calm under pressure, and blocked a Messi shot from the exact position from which Messi scored in the 2023 final.

Vargas lunged into tackles. Cristian Roldan buzzed about, and burst through midfield. De Rosario had two early chances. Miami had more of the ball, but Seattle was more dynamic.

And midway through the half, Cristian Roldan slipped Jesús Ferreira into a pocket of space. Rothrock made a smart run to draw in Alba. Ferreira sprayed the ball wide to Alex Roldan, Cristian’s younger brother. Alex fizzed in a pinpoint cross to De Rosario, who nodded home from four yards out.

Ferreira later hit the post. At the other end, Messi sailed his first shot of the game into the Seattle supporters section.

In the second half, Miami was much better, but Messi and Tadeo Allende each squandered excellent opportunities. Yeimar Gómez charged out from his center back position to block another Messi shot.

Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari kept the Herons in the game with a 1-v-1 save on Rothrock. But the stars kept misfiring. Minoungou, a 23-year-old Ivorian winger who’d come on as a substitute, ran at Miami on the counter and, together with Alex Roldan, put the game away.

And Seattle, with its first Leagues Cup title, completed its trophy case.

Schmetzer, as only he could, added another gem to his quote ledger in the afterglow of the final whistle.

“I actually started my pregame talk with a quote: ‘Individuals win games, but a collective and intelligence wins championships.’ And according to ChatGPT, that was Michael Jordan, one of the greatest individual athletes of all time. And it came true tonight. Because they have unbelievably talented players. … But our collective, the intelligence, the smarts, keeping our composure — I think that was the reason why we won the game,” he said.

Both teams had already secured their places in next season’s Concacaf Champions Cup by reaching the final and with the victory Seattle receives a bye into the round of 16.

The LA Galaxy earned the third place offered by Leagues Cup after beating Orlando City 2-1 in Sunday’s third-place game.