Lionel Messi scores on free kick to give Inter Miami 2-1 win over Porto in Club World Cup

ATLANTA (AP) — Lionel Messi scored his first goal of the expanded Club World Cup on an exquisite free kick, lifting Inter Miami to a 2-1 victory over two-time European champion Porto on Thursday.

The Herons trailed 1-0 at the break, but Telasco Segovia tied it two minutes into the second half off a cross into the box from Marcelo Weigandt.

Then it was time for the 37-year-old Argentinian to add a trademark goal to a resume that already assures he'll go down as one of the game's greatest stars.

Samu Omorodion scored on a penalty kick in the opening minutes after a video review for the Portuguese club's first goal of the tournament.

Both teams were held to scoreless draws in their opening Group A matches.

Messi was taken down just outside the penalty area by Rodrigo Mora on a run down the middle of the field. The crowd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was chanting “Messi!” Messi! Messi!” before his left-footed blast cleared the Porto wall and ripped the net in the top right corner in the 54th minute.

Inter Miami returns to South Florida on Monday, knowing a victory over Brazilian club Palmeiras at Hard Rock Stadium will lock up its spot in the Round of 16. In desperate need of a win, Porto closes out group play against Egypt's Al Ahly at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“(Messi) is the player that leads us in the ways we have to compete. His hunger, his resilience, his will to go on competing, at whatever level that may be. In football terms, what else can I add? He's the best player ever to play this sport. But his determination to win is always surprising. Even in the last minutes, when everyone is tired, he continued to support the team in any way he could.” — Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano.

“What can I say about Messi? I'm not going to say anything that's new. You knows what he's capable of on the pitch.” — Porto coach Martín Anselmi.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, second left, celebrates with Luis Suarez after scoring his side's second goal during the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Inter Miami and FC Porto in Atlanta, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, center, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Inter Miami and FC Porto in Atlanta, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Inter Miami's Benjamin Cremaschi, left, and Lionel Messi celebrate after a goal during the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Inter Miami and FC Porto in Atlanta, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Inter Miami's Lionel Messi reacts after scoring during the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Inter Miami and FC Porto in Atlanta, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, second left, celebrates with Luis Suarez after scoring his side's second goal during the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Inter Miami and FC Porto in Atlanta, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Inter Miami's Lionel Messi, center, celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Inter Miami and FC Porto in Atlanta, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Inter Miami's Lionel Messi scores his side's second goal during the Club World Cup group A soccer match between Inter Miami and FC Porto in Atlanta, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Scott McLaughlin waited 12 months to erase the worst memory of his life.

He spent the time contemplating the haunting images of a spinning car hitting the wall last May before the race had even started, his hands flapping in anger and the frustration sinking in as he climbed out. All the inconsolable McLaughlin could do was cover his face.

He's not going to blow it Sunday at another sold-out Indianapolis 500.

Instead, McLaughlin intends to take full advantage of a second chance on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval, and he hopes to show everyone what he's learned and how resilient he's become as he tries to write a worst-to-first script.

“No doubt I’ve come back stronger from it,” he said. “I don’t think I’m driving differently this year because of it. I’m just looking forward to getting back into the race, creating a new storyline, getting on with it. I’d love to go zero to hero, of course, but driving with emotion like that is probably a detriment. I've just got to go out there, execute and see what I’ve got.”

The 32-year-old New Zealander has returned to Indy with a steadier, more determined mindset to prove he won't make the same mistake twice. He didn't duck any questions about what happened, even if it still seems inexplicable.

But at Team Penske, it's not just McLaughlin seeking redemption this weekend.

Last May might have been the worst for team founder Roger Penske since 1995, when neither of his two-time 500 winners — Al Unser Jr. or Emerson Fittipaldi — made the 33-car starting field, with the open-wheel split keeping Penske away from Indy for the next five years.

In 2025, the trouble started long before McLaughlin crashed while warming up his tires as he was driving past pit lane. Two-time defending champion Josef Newgarden and 2018 Indy 500 winner Will Power were both penalized following a post-qualifying inspection that showed each car had illegally modified rear attenuators.

It marked the second time in 14 months The Captain's team had been tarnished by a cheating scandal. In April 2024, Newgarden was stripped of his win and McLaughlin lost his third-place finish at the season-opening race in St. Petersburg because they improperly used the push-to-pass button on restarts — a rule that was changed earlier this month after a dozen drivers did the same thing at Long Beach. The new rule will allow all 33 drivers to use it on restarts Sunday, the first time on an oval.

“What happened there was a nothing burger,” Newgarden said when asked about Long Beach. “I mean look, I don't have much to say about it, it doesn't matter to me. I'm here in Indianapolis.”

But the second infraction sent both cars to the back of the starting grid, essentially ending Newgarden's opportunity to become the first driver in race history with three straight 500 wins and Power's chance to add a second Indy crown in his contract year. Three key team executives —president Tim Cindric, IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer — were fired.

The three drivers' race-day results were subpar, too, for a team with a record 20 Indy wins. Power was the team's best finisher, in 16th and one lap behind the leaders. Newgarden dropped out with 66 laps to go and came in 22nd. And McLaughlin, Penske's top qualifier, didn't complete a single lap.

This year, McLaughlin and Newgarden came back to Indy with a new teammate, David Malukas, who drives the No. 12 car Power occupied for more than a decade. McLaughlin also has a new race strategist, Cindric.

And while Malukas and McLaughlin already have put Team Penske in more favorable position this May, starting third and ninth, Newgarden struggled in qualifying. He'll start 23rd, in the middle of Row 8, though it's still a nine-spot improvement over last year's starting spot. The combination at least gives Penske's team a fighting chance on the track he owns.

“I'm just going into it like I do any race,” Malukas said when asked about starting on the outside of Row 1. "I'll just watch previous race starts from that position, just getting a collection of data to see where people funnel out, funnel in. I'll just go with the flow.”

Newgarden, however, will have to manage traffic all around him after earning his worst starting spot since 2013 with the exception of last year's penalty.

And then there's McLaughlin, who has a second chance to prove to his fans and the team that last year was an aberration and this year could have a storybook ending.

“I feel like last year sucked and stunk, but it’s part of my journey,” he said. “I feel like I’ve gotten years of experience in one. It was a tough thing. I never wish that upon my worst enemy, as I’ve said. It’s something I’ve grown from, for sure. But it put a lot of perspective in my life.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

David Maluka, left, talks with Caio Collet before practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

David Malukas leads a pack of cars into the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Former winners of the Indianapolis 500 auto race pose at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, May 18, 2026. Front row, left to right, Will Power, of Australia; Josef Newgarden; Alex Palou, of Spain; and Scott Dixon, of New Zealand. Second row: left to right, Alexander Rossi; Ryan Hunter-Reay; Helio Castroneves, of Brazil; Takuma Sato, of Japan; and Marcus Ericsson, of Sweden. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Scott McLaughlin (3) and Helio Castroneves, of Brazil, head into the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Ed Carpenter, left, talks with Scott McLaughlin before practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)