Inter Miami 7-1 CF Montreal - MLS Match Report, Messi Hat-Trick and Highlights

Inter Miami vs CF Montreal ended 7-1 on Saturday 29 August 2026, and the full-time score tells you almost nothing about the first hour of it. Fabian Herbers levelled for the visitors in the 37th minute, and CF Montreal went in only 2-1 down. Then came a 5-0 second half, a Lionel Messi hat-trick, and a finishing display that turned 3.02 expected goals into seven real ones. Here is how the MLS meeting came apart.

Inter Miami 7-1 CF Montreal: Final Score and Result

Final score: Inter Miami 7-1 CF Montreal, the periods reading 2-1 to the hosts at half-time and 5-0 to them after it. Casemiro opened the scoring on 20 minutes, Herbers equalised on 37, and Luca Petrasso put the ball into his own net on 40 to send Inter Miami back in front. Messi scored on 52, on 83 and in the sixth minute of stoppage time, with Luis Suárez and substitute Alexander Shaw also on the scoresheet.

Four of the seven goals arrived from the 80th minute onwards — 80, 83, 89 and 90+6 — and that is the most revealing fact about the night. CF Montreal's resistance did not erode gradually. It went all at once.

How the First Half Unfolded

The hosts were the better side from the first whistle without being ruthless with it: 10 shots to three before the break, four corners to none, and two efforts against the woodwork, both of them in the opening 45. Casemiro's 20th-minute opener, laid on by Telasco Segovia, was the only reward, and a first-half expected-goals split of 0.89 to 0.12 shows how one-sided the chance count was.

CF Montreal's answer was that they barely needed chances. Herbers, booked two minutes earlier, finished from Noah Streit's pass on 37 for one of only two visiting shots on target in the half. Streit was cautioned himself on 39, so both of the visitors' yellow cards and their equaliser landed inside a five-minute window.

The lead was back within three minutes, and CF Montreal handed it over: Petrasso's own goal on 40 made it 2-1 at the interval — the last time this fixture looked like a contest.

Key Moments and Turning Points

Messi's strike seven minutes into the second half was the hinge. At 3-1 the visitors were still theoretically alive, and Eullaffroy responded by reshaping his team early: Daniel Pereira and Dante Sealy came on together on 59, and Alexis Sánchez replaced the goalscorer Herbers on 60.

What followed was not a team that stopped running. CF Montreal took six second-half corners to Inter Miami's two and finished the match with 26 touches in the opposition box to the hosts' 25. What they could not do was make any of it count: 0.74 expected goals after the break, one big chance in the entire match, and two accurate crosses from 12 attempted in the second half.

Inter Miami, by contrast, were brutally efficient. Messi set up Suárez for 4-1 on 80, Rodrigo de Paul returned the favour for Messi's second on 83, Shaw scored 13 minutes after replacing Segovia to make it 6-1, and Messi completed the hat-trick in the sixth added minute. The hosts' second half was worth 2.13 expected goals and produced five; their 5.31 xG on target for the match, against 3.02 xG, is the signature of chances finished far better than they were created.

Who Scored in Inter Miami vs CF Montreal?

All seven goals, with the assists recorded in the match feed and the running score after each:

• 20' — Casemiro (assist: Telasco Segovia) — Inter Miami 1-0
• 37' — Fabian Herbers (assist: Noah Streit) — Inter Miami 1-1
• 40' — Luca Petrasso, own goal — Inter Miami 2-1 (half-time)
• 52' — Lionel Messi — Inter Miami 3-1
• 80' — Luis Suárez (assist: Lionel Messi) — Inter Miami 4-1
• 83' — Lionel Messi (assist: Rodrigo de Paul) — Inter Miami 5-1
• 89' — Alexander Shaw — Inter Miami 6-1
• 90+6' — Lionel Messi — Inter Miami 7-1

Messi finished with three goals and an assist, a direct hand in four of the seven, on a night when the hosts scored through five different sources counting the own goal.

Match Stats: Inter Miami vs CF Montreal

The chance-quality gap was as wide as the scoreline. The hosts created seven big chances to one and hit the target 11 times to five. The visiting goalkeeper made five saves and still picked the ball out of his net seven times, ending the match with a goals-prevented figure of -0.69.

What This Result Means for the MLS Table

Inter Miami currently sit third in the live MLS standings on 42 points from 22 games (12 wins, six draws, four defeats), a point behind Vancouver Whitecaps, who have played a game fewer, and 10 behind leaders Nashville SC. The reigning MLS Cup holders have scored 56 goals, more than any other side in the table, and conceded 41, more than anyone else in the top 10. That trade-off is their season in two numbers.

CF Montreal's position is grimmer. They are 28th on 21 points from 22, level with Atlanta United but behind them on goal difference, with only Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City below them among the league's clubs. A goal difference of -16 and 46 conceded in 22 matches is the context that makes a 7-1 look less like an aberration than the extreme end of an existing pattern.

Two caveats: the numbers above are the live table as it stands now, not a snapshot frozen at full time, and OneLightScore stores MLS as one combined list rather than split conference tables. You can see the full MLS standings for the current picture.

Where Can I Watch the Inter Miami vs CF Montreal Highlights?

No broadcaster is confirmed in our listings for this fixture, so we will not guess at a channel. What we can point you to is the match page below, which carries the goal-by-goal timeline and the full statistics sheet, and where official highlight clips are listed once a rights holder publishes them. For country-by-country options, how to watch MLS in the US and other territories is kept current.

When Is Inter Miami's Next Match and How to Watch It?

Kick-off times and confirmed TV entries for the rest of the season are attached to each game on Inter Miami's upcoming fixtures, and broadcast rows appear against a fixture as soon as they are published. Convert before you set a reminder: this match started at 23:30 UTC, a 7:30pm kick-off on the US East Coast.

Inter Miami vs CF Montreal FAQs

How many goals did Lionel Messi score against CF Montreal?

Messi scored three: on 52 minutes, on 83 minutes and in the sixth minute of stoppage time. He also assisted Luis Suárez's goal on 80, so he had a direct hand in four of Inter Miami's seven goals. The other scorers were Casemiro, Alexander Shaw and a Luca Petrasso own goal.

What was the final score of Inter Miami vs CF Montreal?

Inter Miami won 7-1. It was 2-1 to the hosts at half-time, Casemiro and a Petrasso own goal against a Herbers strike for CF Montreal, and Inter Miami then scored five without reply after the interval, four of them from the 80th minute onwards.

How can I watch the Inter Miami highlights and replays?

Highlights are listed on the OneLightScore match page alongside the full goal timeline, the incident list and the statistics sheet, with official clips added when a rights holder publishes them. No broadcaster is confirmed in our listings for this fixture, so availability varies by country.

What channel was Inter Miami vs CF Montreal on?

OneLightScore has no confirmed broadcaster stored for this match, so we cannot name a channel for it. MLS coverage differs by territory and by fixture. The MLS where-to-watch page lists the confirmed options for your country, and listings are attached to each fixture as they are published.

When is Inter Miami's next match and how to watch it?

Inter Miami's next MLS fixture, its kick-off time and any confirmed broadcast entries are listed on the OneLightScore MLS fixtures page. This match kicked off at 23:30 UTC on Saturday 29 August 2026, a 7:30pm start on the US East Coast, so check your local conversion before the next one.

Goals, minutes, cards, substitutions and every statistic in this report come from the OneLightScore match feed for this fixture, 29 August 2026. No venue, attendance or player ratings are stored for this match, so none are quoted. No photography was used.