Feb 22, 2026
3 min read
In what felt like the main event of Matchday 1 of the 2026 MLS season, LAFC upset the reigning champions with a 3-0 victory in front of more than 75,673 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
LOS ANGELES - On a night when the visitors seemed to be the main attraction, the home team stood up to defend its turf.Although it wasn't actually his territory.
In what looked like the marquee event of the first day of the 2026 MLS season, LAFC defeated defending champion Inter Miami 3-0 in front of 75,673 fans inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.It was the second most-watched MLS match ever.
It was an on-brand win against Inter Miami, because LAFC does.David Martinez scored the opener in the 38th minute, with Son Heung-min providing the assist to make it all easier.It was as if the win was never there for Inter Miami.
"We have to push [Martinez] on the field because he has great quality, but now he has also changed his mentality," Denis Bouanga said after the match."Last year is not the same as this year, and he knows it."
Bounga scored another goal in the 73rd minute to double the lead.The Frenchman perfectly played a superb pass from 50 yards out from Timothée Tillman and headed it over the head of Dane St Clair and into the net.
This was not LAFC's home opener.MLS moved the game to LAFC's impressive BMO Stadium and built a 100-year-old concrete monster to accommodate Messi's performance.Over 75,000 people attended.Cameras everywhere.
The opening should be about defending champions.Repeatedly.The gravity of Messi driving the championship to Miami.
And of course Messi was Messi.Every touch got a response.Every drive in felt like it could end someone's night.Inter Miami looked exactly like a team that knows the season is long and the World Cup clock is already ticking.
LAFC didn't care.
"Inter Miami put us under a lot of pressure, but we defended really well," LAFC coach Marc Dos Santos said."I don't think we gave up big chances. There were half-chances like that, but overall... I think that part of our game today was A+. The possession part was B. We can be very good and we want to be better, but our guys were a team."
The black and gold demonstrate this by keeping things compact. They remain patient. Son let Martinez slip away as the kickoff began, and Martinez finished as if the script wasn't his responsibility. Bouanga handled the moment expertly before Ordaz fired his finishing move to seal the victory.
LAFC did what they do: dominate, disrupt, frustrate.Miami had the ball.Messi had moments.The goals never came.
The season began in a stadium that, among other things, hosted the Olympic Games and the Super Bowl.But that evening, the league's biggest attraction still rose.
Bunga perfectly played a pass from Tillman on the counter attack.A quick flick over St Clair's head, he deflected his own pass and fired the ball into the net for a two-goal lead.After a great pass from Tillman and a fine finish from the French, it could have been for the home side.
Berterame gets his best chance of the night with a wide open shot from a few feet away from Lloris, but sends it wide instead.
DePaul's cross found Beltrame in the penalty area, however, Portis got in front of him and sent the ball out of bounds with a dangerous header.
The second half is coming!
UArmando Botello II
Halftime: LAFC 1-0 Inter Miami
The opener, with Messi's gravitas tilting the league toward Miami, could be something the players talk about again and again.Instead, LAFC owned the first half.Not just the goals, but with a total of 10-3 shots, 3 of which were just 1 on target for Miami.Upset for the defending champions.How will they respond?
Messi almost equalizes after being brought down.He gets up quickly and finds the ball 20 meters in front of Lloris and sends it over.
In an almost identical sequence, Buanga finds a sharp Martinez 1-on-1, only this time Martinez's curler goes wide of the post.LAFC nearly took a two-goal lead into halftime.
David Martinez Morales opens the scoring against Inter Miami!!!!!!!!!HEUNG-MIN SON WITH THE ASSIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THE MESSI TEAM AT THE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LAFC got on the board first thanks to a Miami error.Tillman turned around and turned around.Turn around and turn around.The young Venezuelan played the ball past St. Clair, left and right to give the home side the lead.
It's Bouanga who sends a secret cross again to St Clair in front, but Martinez can't find the bottom of it.
Boanga again passed the Miami defense to Tilman.Tilman's scoring opportunity was quickly hidden, but Falcon slipped in front of him.
Berterame springs into action, hoping to feed Messi near the box.Porteous is there to mediate and send the pass from the other end.
