Seattle Sounders Defeat Messi & Co. to Win 2025 Leagues Cup -

By Griffin Cappiello

One of Major League Soccer’s (MLS) most successful teams added another trophy to their collection after the Seattle Sounders defeated Inter Miami 3-0 in the 2025 Leagues Cup final.

Leagues Cup, a relatively new, but still controversial, tournament, provides an opportunity for MLS teams to compete against their North American neighbors from Liga MX, the top soccer league in Mexico. In the 2025 edition of the competition, however, Liga MX clubs did not fare well, as the tournament concluded with two all-MLS semifinal matches.

Seattle defeated the LA Galaxy 2-0 to advance to the final, while Lionel Messi scored twice to carry Inter Miami past Florida rivals Orlando City SC by a score of 3-1.

Ahead of the final, Seattle Head Coach Brian Schmetzer gave a shoutout to Seattle native Paul Rothrock for his contributions to the Sounders’ League Cup efforts, celebrating his hometown pride, work rate, and grit. The Sounders organization was quick to capitalize on Schmetzer’s statement, offering fans the chance to exchange their Messi jerseys for Rothrock jerseys, completely free of charge.

Seattle took the lead early in the match after Osaze De Rosario (son of MLS legend Dwayne) got his head on the end of a cross from Alex Roldan and carried the 1-0 lead into halftime. Miami came out strong to start the second half, with near misses off of shots by Messi and Tadeo Allende. Roldan converted a penalty kick, and Rothrock scored in stoppage time, cementing the result and giving the Sounders the win.

The action did not conclude with the final whistle.

Mere seconds after the match ended, several Inter Miami players started a brawl on the field. Maxi Falcon put a Sounders player in a headlock, Sergio Busquets threw a punch at Obed Vargas, and Tomás Avilés swung at Jackson Ragen. Luis Suárez, a player with a history of disciplinary issues, having been suspended on three occasions for biting opposing players, was seen spitting in the face of a Seattle staff member.

Image courtesy of The Athletic.

Inter Miami Head Coach Javier Mascherano tried to downplay the incident after the game, suggesting that “if there was reaction, probably there was also instigation.”

Schmetzer chose to focus on the Sounders’ performances: “The story of the game is not what happened after the fact. The story of the game is the Seattle Sounders.”

Suárez received a six-match suspension from Leagues Cup, while Busquets received a two-game ban. These suspensions may come as too little, too late, as both players’ contracts expire at the end of the season, and it seems likely either or both of them will retire. Avilés also received a three-game ban, and Steven Lenhart, a member of the Seattle coaching staff, was issued a five-match ban.

Over a week after the game, MLS decided to take action against Suárez. The league suspended the Uruguayan for the next three MLS matches. Busquets and Avilés did not receive additional suspensions from the league, though Lenhart had his MLS credentials revoked for the remainder of the season.

Many fans were unsatisfied with the length of the suspensions issued by MLS. “Well on the one side they did actually punish Suárez… but on the other hand this seems like an absolute joke and an abhorrent disregard for the seriousness of the offense by Suárez,” commented user u/DJLowZ on Reddit.

The fights after the match dominated much of the news cycle, but Seattle’s triumph should not be downplayed. With their Leagues Cup victory, the Sounders became the first MLS team to win all five of the trophies annually available for MLS teams: MLS Cup, the Supporters’ Shield, the US Open Cup, the CONCACAF Champions Cup, and now, Leagues Cup.

With the win, Seattle automatically qualified for round of sixteen in the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Miami and the LA Galaxy also qualified for the competition based on their respective runners-up and third-place finishes in Leagues Cup.