The Seattle Sounders added a brand-new piece of hardware to their trophy case on Sunday night, beating Inter Miami 3-0 in the Leagues Cup final in front of a sold-out Lumen Field to win the third edition of the tournament between MLS and Liga MX.
The win — against 2023 Leagues Cup champs Miami and its star Lionel Messi — gave Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer a new trophy to add to his collection with the Sounders, having already won MLS Cup twice and the Concacaf Champions League during his tenure with the team.
The home side struck first in the 26th minute of a back-and-forth start to the game when Osaze De Rosario met Alex Roldan‘s pinpoint cross in front of the Miami goal and smashed it past Oscar Ustari to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead.
Chasing the lead, Miami came out stronger in the second half and should have drawn level in the 50th minute, but Messi blasted a close-range shot over the crossbar from a spot he rarely misses from.
While Messi’s miss was surprising, his teammate Tadeo Allende‘s was shocking, somehow shooting wide of the goal with only Seattle keeper Andy Thomas to beat as Miami continued to control the action in the second half.
Seattle took control back as the second half wore on and put the game away in the 84th minute when Alex Roldan converted a penalty kick and homegrown Sounder Paul Rothrock added a third with a stoppage-time goal to send the crowd into a delirium.
Along with a trophy and prize money, the Sounders also get an automatic spot in the round of 16 for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
