Inter Miami Vs Lafc: LAFC brush aside reigning champions 3-0 at Coliseum
On MLS opening day, the inter miami vs lafc fixture ended in a 3-0 win for LAFC in front of 75, 673 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Black & Gold dominated reigning MLS Cup presented by Audi champions Inter Miami CF, with goals from David Martínez, Denis Bouanga and Nathan Ordaz.
Inter Miami Vs Lafc match recap
Matchday 1 of the 2026 MLS season saw LAFC handle Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF en route to a 3-0 victory. The game took place inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, not at LAFC’s usual BMO Stadium, and attracted 75, 673 fans — a figure described as the second-highest attended MLS match ever. The result came in Marc Dos Santos’s first game as LAFC head coach.
Goals: Martínez, Bouanga, Ordaz
David Martínez opened the scoring in the 38th minute after a pass from Son Heung-Min set up the finish. Denis Bouanga doubled the lead in the 73rd minute; accounts of that goal include Bouanga dinked the ball over 2025 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair and rolled it into the empty net, and another description notes Bouanga met a Timothy Tillman pass from about 50 yards and headed it over St. Clair into the net. Nathan Ordaz added the third in stoppage time to seal a 3-0 result and send the visitors home deflated.
Tactical effort and possession
LAFC stayed compact, absorbed pressure, and tested Inter Miami with a disruptive defensive plan. Inter Miami kept 68 percent possession and had only one big chance; new DP striker Germán Berterame was largely held quiet, and Lionel Messi did not manage a single shot on target. Marc Dos Santos said, "When we prepared for the game, we prepared to face the best Messi possible. I think that part of our game today, 'A+. ' The part of possession, ‘B’, we can be much better, and we want to be much better. But our guys were a team, suffered together, were smart dealing with a lot of plays, and that’s important going forward. "
Stadium, crowd and context
The match was moved out of BMO Stadium into the 100-year-old concrete Coliseum to accommodate the Messi effect; organizers noted cameras everywhere and a large crowd, with pink shirts fewer than expected. Son Heung-Min supporters also turned out in force. Earlier in the week LAFC had cruised to a 6-1 win at Real España in their 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup Round One opener, with Martínez and Bouanga among the scorers in that match. Inter Miami’s most recent official competition before this match had been the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs, when the Herons scored 20 times in six games during their run to the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy.
Coach and player reactions
Marc Dos Santos reflected on the win: "It’s good to win like this and still have so much margin to progress. Now we want to play and build the team. " He also pointed to recent travel and preparation: "A very positive thing is we played Tuesday in Honduras. We flew a very long flight, we had one day of training, and we were able to suffer as a team. That quality of being able to suffer as a team together is an important quality for a team. " After the match he added, "[Inter Miami] put us [under] a lot of pressure, but we defended really well. I don’t think we conceded big chances. There were these half-chances, but overall … I think that part of our game today, A+. The part of possession, B. We can be much better, and we want to be much better, but our guys were a team. " Denis Bouanga commented on Martínez: "We need to push [Martínez] in the field because he has strong quality, but now he has a changed mentality, too. Last year is not the same to this year, and he knows. " Stephen Eustáquio, playing as a holding midfielder in his long-awaited MLS debut, was noted as central to LAFC’s efforts, and Son Heung-Min provided the assist for Martínez’s opener.
The inter miami vs lafc encounter closed with LAFC keeping three points and a 3-0 scoreline, a performance defined by Martínez’s opener, Bouanga’s second-half strike and Ordaz’s stoppage-time finish.
