Sam Surridge, who plays for Nashville and is the leading scorer in Major League Soccer, scored in the first half to help the MLS All-Stars beat their Liga MX counterparts 3-1 at Q2 Stadium on Wednesday.
Tai Baribo, a forward for the Philadelphia Union, won the MLS All-Star MVP award after scoring in the 51st minute to give his team a two-goal lead again. Brian White, a forward for the Vancouver Whitecaps, scored a late goal in the 80th minute, giving MLS its third win in four All-Star Games played this way since 2021.
Gilberto Mora scored the only goal for Liga MX in the 64th minute. He became the youngest player to score in the event’s history.
Surridge and Lionel Messi are still tied for the most goals in MLS history, with 18 each. There was a lot of talk about whether or not Messi would play all week, but the 38-year-old, eight-time Ballon d’Or winner ended up not playing in the exhibition match. Jordi Alba, another Inter Miami star, also didn’t play in the game.
Reports say that both Messi and Alba could be suspended for missing the event, but no official decision has been made yet.
Surridge scored the first goal in the 28th minute after Denis Bouanga of Los Angeles FC made a run that split the Liga MX defence.
Luis Malagon, the custodian for Club America, stopped Bouanga’s first shot, but he quickly picked up the ball and sent a perfect diagonal cross into the six-yard box. Surridge met it with a strong downward header.
Baribo, who has 14 league goals this season, four behind Messi and Surridge in the MLS Golden Boot race, made the margin bigger early in the second half. Mora then momentarily brought Liga MX’s aspirations back to life. White’s goal at the end made sure there would be no comeback.
