Lionel Messi and Inter Miami's MLS Cup dreams have been shattered this year. Atlanta United orchestrated a monumental upset, sending the most decorated player and the highest-spending team packing earlier than anyone anticipated. Jamal Thiaré scored twice, and Bartosz Slisz's header in the 76th minute sealed the deal as Atlanta United stunned Inter Miami 3-2 on Saturday night, clinching their best-of-three first round MLS Cup playoff series in three games.

Two free kicks by Messi in the dying moments hit the wall of Atlanta defenders, and time eventually ran out. Messi's header in the 65th minute tied the match at 2-2, but the hosts never regained the lead. Brad Guzan was instrumental in the Atlanta net, stopping almost everything that came his way to secure the upset.

This was Atlanta United's fifth win-or-else victory this season, starting with two must-win matches to stay alive in the regular season against the New York Red Bulls and Orlando City, followed by a wild-card match at Montreal, Game 2 of this series at home, and finally Saturday's stunning victory. The Eastern Conference is now wide open.

Ninth-seeded Atlanta United will face No 4 Orlando City in the Eastern Conference semi-final, while sixth-seeded New York City FC will take on the seventh-seeded New York Red Bulls in the other East semi-final. No 2 Columbus and No 3 Cincinnati have already been ousted, and the biggest surprise of all was No 1 Inter Miami's season coming to an abrupt end.

Historically, the team with the best record has won the MLS Cup four times in the league's first seven seasons. In the 22 seasons since, the top overall seed has only won the title four more times. On paper, this upset may be the biggest ever – a No 9 seed versus a No 1 seed, especially with Messi in the lineup.

Messi's $20,446,667 in total compensation from Inter Miami this season was about $5m more than the entire Atlanta payroll, and Inter Miami spent a record $41.7m on payroll this season. This investment earned Inter Miami the Supporters’ Shield, the best regular-season record in MLS history, and an invitation to next year's Club World Cup. However, it didn't secure even a second-round playoff spot, marking a significant disappointment.

Atlanta United fully believed in their ability to pull off this upset. For some reason, Atlanta was a nightmare matchup for Inter Miami this season, beating them three times with Messi in the lineup. Every other MLS team combined only managed three wins against Inter Miami.

A five-minute, three-goal barrage in the first half set the tone. Inter Miami opened the scoring, but Atlanta United quickly retaliated twice. Thiaré's deflection narrowly missed opening the scoring 14 minutes into the contest. Inter Miami then took a 1-0 lead, but Atlanta United's Thiaré equalized in the 19th minute and scored again shortly after to give Atlanta a 2-1 lead.

Inter Miami thought they had tied the match in the 25th minute, but Gómez was called offside. The hosts argued for a penalty kick later in the half, claiming a handball in the box, but they went into halftime down 2-1. Messi's header tied the match, but it was not enough, leaving Inter Miami in stunned disbelief as their season came to an end.

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