VIDEO: Lionel Messi scores 71st free-kick of his career to overtake Brazil legend Pele as New York City FC goalkeeper Matt Freese is left completely embarrassed

Inter Miami have made a strong start to the 2026 Major League Soccer season, taking ten points from their first five games to sit third in the Eastern Conference behind leaders Nashville and SC and New York City FC, the latter of whom were their opponents on Sunday. 

An entertaining spectacle was played out at Yankee Stadium, with Gonzalo Lujan handing Miami the lead in the fourth minute before New York responded to take the lead thanks to strikes from Nicolas Fernandez and Agustin Ojeda. However, the home side weren't ahead for long as Messi stepped up to score from distance, with his free-kick taking a deflection and creeping past goalkeeper Matt Freese.

It was another moment of inspiration from the Argentine World Cup winner, with Miami going on to claim the points thanks to defender Micael's 74th-minute winner.

Messi recently brought up his 900th career goal with a strike against Nashville and took his first step to 1,000 with the 71st free-kick goal of his career against New York City. It means the 38-year-old has overtaken Pele when it comes to goals directly from free-kicks, with the Brazilian great thought to have bagged 70 goals from dead-ball situations during his legendary career.

There is now only one player ahead of him in that list, that being former Lyon star Juninho Pernambucano who bagged 77 free-kick goals, but there's every chance that Messi will surge to the top of the rankings before he decides to call it a day and retire.

Messi is now set to feature for Argentina in the upcoming international break, with the current World Cup holders taking on Mauritania and Zambia in friendlies in Buenos Aires. Those will be the last games for manager Lionel Scaloni to assess his players before naming his squad for their title defence in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Messi is undoubtedly the star name in the Argentina roster but a number of more inexperienced attackers have been included for the friendlies. While Julian Alvarez, who has 49 caps, is included, the likes of Giuliano Simeone, Franco Mastantuono, Jose Manuel Lopez, Joaquin Panichelli and Gianluca Prestianni have all been named in the squad and each have fewer than ten appearances for the national team.

Argentina play their first 2026 World Cup game in mid June when they face Algeria in Kansas City, Missouri. They will also take on Austria and Jordan in Group J.