Since his arrival in MLS, Lionel Messi has turned every season into an event, and not only because of what he does on the pitch. His influence on the league can be measured in many ways, but one of them is easy to follow every year: the number of shirts with his name on the back.
MLS released its list of the best-selling jerseys of 2026 so far, and Messi is at the top for the fourth consecutive season, according to online sales from Jan. 1 to Oct. 30.
Behind him, Son Heung-min of LAFC finished second, followed by Thomas Muller of the Vancouver Whitecaps in third place, while Robert Lewandowski of the Chicago Fire was fourth and Antoine Griezmann of Orlando City rounded out the top five.
That means Messi left behind three World Cup champions in the top 10: Muller (2014), Griezmann (2018) and his own Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul (2022), along with a group of high-profile names. The list also includes Cavan Sullivan of the Philadelphia Union, Denis Bouanga of LAFC and Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC.
There is also a twist in the numbers. According to ESPN, Lewandowski’s Chicago jersey has outsold Messi’s since the Polish striker arrived in MLS, though the Argentine still leads the ranking for the year. Even so, no one has managed to take the No. 1 spot from him in four seasons, a sign of the huge impact Messi has had since arriving in the United States in 2023.
Inter Miami leads the league with three players in the top 10
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Beyond Messi’s reign, the ranking shows how much weight Inter Miami has in the league’s market. The club has three players in the top 10, with Messi at No. 1, Luis Suarez at No. 8 and De Paul at No. 10, more than any other team in the league.
LAFC follows with two representatives, Son Heung-min in second place and Denis Bouanga in seventh. Together, the numbers show that star power is concentrated in a few clubs, and Inter Miami is the one that benefits the most.
With Messi leading the way and two teammates alongside him, Inter Miami has turned its jersey sales into another sign of its global reach. As the league continues to grow, the Herons’ presence at the top of the list shows that their impact goes beyond the pitch, and it remains to be seen whether any other club can challenge that dominance in the years to come.
