Lionel Messi scored twice as Inter Miami beat Nashville SC in their opening play-off game and has “reset the trajectory for Major League Soccer”, according to the league’s commissioner Don Garber.

After signing a new three-year contract with Inter Miami on Thursday, Messi was awarded the MLS Golden Boot, as top-scorer in the regular season, by Garber before his double in a 3-1 win to begin the best-of-three first-round series on Friday.

The Argentina forward joined Inter Miami from Paris St-Germain in 2023 and while now 38 and in the latter stages of his career, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner has continued to dazzle with his performances in the US.

Named MLS Most Valuable Player in 2024 after registering 20 goals and 16 assists, he is in line to become the first player in the league’s history to win the award back-to-back after racking up 29 goals and 20 assists in 28 games this season.

“I don’t think we ever could have imagined that Leo would have been able to deliver for this club, for this city and for this league the way he had,” Garber said.

“He has reset the trajectory for Major League Soccer and we were already doing pretty well. And I think having three more years is just going to be another gift.”