NEW YORK CITY AND MEXICO CITY – In a thrilling, penalty-kick victory at GEODIS Park, Inter Miami CF won the inaugural Leagues Cup title over Nashville SC in front of a sellout crowd of 30,109 on Saturday night in Nashville. Following a tremendous, back-and-forth 90-plus minutes that saw the match tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation, Inter Miami emerged victorious, 10-9, in penalty kicks with goalkeeper Drake Callender registering the game-winning strike.
After outlasting 46 clubs from LIGA MX and MLS, Inter Miami won its first official international tournament title and earned an automatic berth into the Round of 16 of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup. Nashville SC, as the tournament’s runner-up, and the Philadelphia Union, as the winner of Saturday’s Third-Place Match against C.F. Monterrey, both earned qualification into the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Round One.
After a back-and-forth first 20 minutes of the match, Inter Miami star Lionel Messi landed the game’s first blow in the 23rd minute, corraling a deflection before making a few quick dribbles and firing a sensational left-footed shot past a diving ‘keeper for a 1-0 advantage (Watch Here). The goal was Messi’s tournament-best 10th of Leagues Cup 2023 and his fifth from outside of the 18-yard box. Nashville responded in the second half, as a corner kick from Hany Mukhtar found the head of Sam Surridge , who redirected the ball to a diving Fafà Picault on the back post who leveled the score at 1-1 in the 57th minute (Watch Here).
Several key saves were made by Callender late in the match, however, none was bigger than in the 77th minute, as he kept the scoreline equal with a tremendous prevention that left a Nashville SC fast break led by Mukhtar and Surridge empty (Watch Here). In the waning seconds of regulation, a breakaway opportunity for Miami forward Leonardo Campana found the left post, sending the game into penalty kicks.
Callender once again came up big in the penalty shootout, as he recorded the game-winning strike and made two key saves, including the decisive stop in the 11th round to preserve the victory.
The following are the individual award winners for Leagues Cup 2023:
- Best Player: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF
- Top Scorer: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF (10 goals)
- Best Goalkeeper: Drake Callender, Inter Miami CF