Lionel Messi scores at packed GEHA at Arrowhead as Inter Miami edges Sporting KC

More than 72,000 people filled GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday night, hoping to see a show.

They got one, with global soccer icon Lionel Messi and star-studded Inter Miami edging host Sporting Kansas City 3-2.

Messi had a goal and an assist, firing a stunning strike from distance that sent the expectant crowd wild.

Erik Thommy responded with two goals for Sporting KC, but Miami’s Luis Suarez tapped home a third and deciding goal for the visitors in the long-anticipated Major League Soccer showdown.

Manager Peter Vermes felt his team represented itself well but ran up against an Inter Miami squad that punished Sporting’s mistakes more than in a typical MLS match.

“If you just look at the first goal, the pass that Messi makes,” Vermes said after the match, “and then the second goal, the ball he hits from where he hits it from, I think you all would agree that you don’t see that in MLS. And you do when you play against them. They can punish you, and that’s what they did.”

Saturday night’s match was relocated from Sporting KC’s usual venue in Kansas City, Kansas — Children’s Mercy Park. And good thing it was, too.

The announced attendance of 72,610 broke all-time attendance record for a soccer game in Kansas City and the state of Missouri.

“I think this is a taste for everybody of what the World Cup is gonna bring,” Sporting’s Daniel Salloi said after the match. “I wish we could have held a tie or gotten a win. But to the fans, thank you so much because this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us, too.”

While it was certainly a pro-Sporting crowd, Messi’s greatness was undeniable. Every time he touched the ball, the stadium bristled in anticipation.

It was like a gravitational pull, bringing fans to the edge of their seats in hopes of seeing the greatness that could come in an instant.

Thommy got the home crowd rocking early, depositing a shot into the far corner just six minutes in. KC defender Tim Tim Leibold started the break by earning a turnover in the midfield.

But a little over 10 minutes later, Messi created a moment of magic for Miami, threading a perfect pass to Diego Gomez, who put a powerful and low shot past Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia.

Messi’s brilliance was in full view in the 51st minute when he fired a long-range strike past Melia to give Miami a 2-1 lead.

“I mean, the through ball on the first one and then the shot on the second one is the reason why he is who he is,” Melia said after the match. “He proves it in most games.”

Thommy responded with an equally impressive volley to make it 2-2 just seven minutes later. But in the 71st minute, Miami took the lead for a final time.

Gomez dispossessed Sporting KC’s Jake Davis, who struggled to reign in Melia’s off-target pass out of the back. Gomez then placed a perfect pass to a wide-open Suarez for a tap-in goal at the far post.

Sporting KC captain Johnny Russell returned from injury for the final eight minutes, plus stoppage time, but it wasn’t enough. Sporting KC (2-2-4) has now failed to win after taking the lead in four of five home matches this season.

The KC MLS club’s attention will remain focused on I-70 this week. On Saturday, Sporting welcomes St. Louis City SC to Children’s Mercy Park for the first time since Kansas City’s upset of the top seed in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Saturday’s match is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. Central Time.