Messi’s eighth Ballon d’Or trophy record is honored and given to the audience.

In a special ceremony held at DRV PNK Stadium on Friday night, Inter Miami CF honored team captain Lionel Messi for winning his record-tying eighth Ballon d’Or. After the celebrations, the hosts played a friendly match against New York City FC to finish 2023, although they lost by a small margin (1-2).

“Even though I’ve only been here for a short period, it feels like I’ve been here forever. I want to express my gratitude to everyone in Miami for the way you have treated my family and me over the past few months—not just the folks at the stadium, but the entire city. Messi remarked, “You’ve shown me so much love and made me feel at home.” “I was confident that we would enjoy ourselves and have a great time.I’m certain that next year will be considerably better now than it was at the beginning, even if I didn’t have any question about it before. We’re going to keep having fun and winning championships, and I hope you’ll stick behind us as you have for the entire month I’ve been here.

After announcing Messi as an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Co-Owner Jose Mas, and Managing Owner Jorge Mas walked down a gold carpet and spoke to the audience at DRV PNK Stadium to start the evening. Then, while gold fireworks blasted in the backdrop and the supporters applauded Messi’s name, he handed his historic trophy to the assembly, thanked them for their support, and looked forward to 2024.

Noche d’Or

Drake Callender began the game in goal; DeAndre Yedlin, Ryan Sailor, Kamal Miller, and Jordi Alba were positioned in defense; Sergio Busquets, David Ruiz, and Diego Gómez took the field in midfield; Facundo Farías began in attack, trailing Leonardo Campana and captain Messi in the chase.

Throughout the first several minutes of the game, Inter Miami dominated possession and Messi created threatening attacking possibilities. On the other hand, New York scored first, both before and after the halftime siren.

In the 81st minute, Busquets found replacement Robbie Robinson with a ball on the left side of the box, giving the home team a goal back. The American striker then made it 1-2, which would stand as the final score, with a powerful low left-footed effort that went past the goalie and into the net.

With the Concacaf Champions Cup serving as the team’s first taste of continental action, Inter Miami will now focus on 2024 as it enters the summer.