This article was originally published on www.si.com as Son Heung-min Surpasses Lionel Messi With Record-Setting MLS Signing. Son Heung-min may only have 30 minutes of Major League Soccer experience, but the LAFC star is already among the most popular athletes in an American professional sports league.

Everyone involved could have handled the MLS All-Star snafu better, instead of letting things develop as they did.

Lionel Messi was named MLS Player of the Month for July after scoring eight goals and providing three assists in just five matches for Inter Miami.

Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba will miss Inter Miami’s next contest after being suspended one match for skipping the MLS All-Star Game.

The players with the highest transfer fees in MLS history aren't neccessarily the ones you'd immediately think of.

Lionel Messi shirts dotted the concourse at Austin's Q2 Stadium for the 2025 MLS All-Star Game, but there was no Messi jersey on the pitch.

Aging European stars moving to MLS is nothing new. But giving Messi credit suggests a problem the league could face in a few years.

Messi played every minute in 22 of 23 matches since April 2, logging more than 2,000 minutes during the span. His last game off was April 27. He recently set an MLS record scoring two goals in five straight matches, and six of his last seven in the regular season.

In the East, Orlando City obliterated Inter Miami without an injured Lionel Messi, while both FC Cincinnati and the Philadelphia Union dropped points. Meanwhile, in the West, both the Vancouver Whitecaps and Minnesota United lost respective matches,