Messi sets another unbelievable record with American football, Busquets officially retires

According to the American press, Messi will certainly become the first player in MLS history to win the title of best player two consecutive seasons, at the same time Sergio Busquets officially announced his retirement at the end of the season.

Messi still hasn't stopped, Busquets chooses a turn

"At 38, Messi continues to play explosively and enjoy the magical football that he always creates every day to dedicate to the audience. This famous player just scored a double and 1 assist in the second consecutive match to help Inter Miami sublimate, and also reminded everyone that he is still the king of football," Spanish newspaper Marca expressed in an article on September 26.

Messi still shining at age 38

Photo: Reuters

Messi scored 24 goals in the entire 2025 MLS season (American professional soccer), consolidating his position as the tournament's top scorer and affirming his influence in the tournament that is growing stronger.

He has also won 18 best player awards in the 2025 season so far. This almost confirms that this famous player will have a second consecutive season, winning the best player award after 2024, something no player has ever done before, according to Deporte Total USA channel.

Another statistic also shows Messi's persuasiveness in the title of best player of the 2025 MLS season. That is the number of times he was given the highest score (10 points) on Sofascore, the most in this year's season. This is the score evaluated by the player's excellent performance based on parameters compiled by the data company Opta, and Sofascore has used to evaluate players around the football world .

"Achieving a perfect 10 is rare; but Messi has achieved this score 50 times throughout his career, making him stand out from the rest. The next players to have achieved 10 points according to Sofascore are Neymar (18 times), while Kylian Mbappe (17 times), Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane (both 13 times) are close behind," said Spanish newspaper AS .

In total, in all competitions, Messi has scored 32 goals in 35 games for Inter Miami this season, and has 13 assists. He also became the first player in MLS history to combine goals and assists, with a total of at least 35 goals or more in consecutive seasons.

While Messi is on the rise and has not stopped, Busquets has chosen a turning point with the decision to officially retire at the end of this season.

Photo: Reuters

Messi still has five more MLS games to play with Inter Miami to add to those records. In addition to aiming to defend the Supporters' Shield title (for the qualifying round), the next game is against Toronto FC away at 3:30 p.m. on September 28.

The remaining matches include three home games against Chicago Fire FC, New England Revolution, Atlanta United FC and the final away game against Nashville SC. If Inter Miami wins all of these matches, they will defend their title.

Inter Miami's magical "quartet" is down to 3 people, who are they?

Inter Miami is now officially in the MLS Cup playoffs starting from round 1, with 3 matches, including 2 home matches and 1 away match (pending the opponent). The MLS Cup title is Messi's most desired goal, after last year's participation was defeated in round 1 by Atlanta United FC.

This is also the last tournament in his career that famous player Busquets will participate in and hopes to win the championship with Inter Miami.

Busquets, 37 years old, has just officially announced his retirement from playing after the 2025 season ends. This is a decision that the Spanish player made after many months of consideration, to choose a new direction and enjoy life.

According to coach Mascherano: "Busquets is one of the greatest midfielders in the history of world football. He is still playing at a top level. The assists that Busquets has created for Messi to score in recent matches are enough to show his stature and class. Busquets' retirement is his decision and we respect it very much. We expect the matches at MLS Cup and the rest of the season to be the most beautiful memories of the final stage of Busquets' career."

With Busquets retiring, the magical "four" of Inter Miami from the Barcelona era, only Messi, Suarez and Jordi Alba remain. Messi is expected to extend his contract for another 2 years with an option to extend the following year (until 2028). Jordi Alba has also extended his contract until 2027, currently only Suarez has not decided whether to continue or retire.

Busquets' position from 2026 will be replaced by Rodrigo De Paul, when he becomes an official player of Inter Miami and the contract is valid until 2029. De Paul is currently playing on loan until the end of the year.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/messi-lap-tiep-ky-luc-khong-tuong-voi-bong-da-my-busquets-chinh-thuc-giai-nghe-185250926122405365.htm