As the sun sets over Nashville this weekend, all eyes in the soccer world are fixed on GEODIS Park, where a high-stakes drama is about to unfold. Nashville SC’s English striker, Sam Surridge, is preparing for the most electrifying showdown of his career—a head-to-head battle with none other than Lionel Messi, the Argentine icon and global soccer phenomenon, for Major League Soccer’s coveted Golden Boot. The stakes? Not just personal glory, but the chance to etch his name in Tennessee sports history alongside the likes of Messi and LAFC’s Denis Bouanga, who are all neck-and-neck in this season’s scoring race.
Surridge, who turned 27 this year, has been nothing short of sensational since joining Nashville in July 2023. With 29 goals in all competitions and 23 in the MLS regular season, he’s become the heartbeat of a club still carving out its identity in a city better known for honky-tonks and hockey than for football. Yet, thanks to his prolific scoring and Nashville’s recent US Open Cup triumph, the city is buzzing with soccer fever—and the Messi effect has only intensified the excitement.
“It’s obviously made it more special the goals coming this year because I’m competing with him,” Surridge admitted on The Overlap US podcast, speaking candidly about the mental grind of keeping pace with Messi. “But yeah, at the same time like throughout the season, I’ve always tried to kind of get to where I want to get to. If I carried on looking at his goals, I think I’d probably go crazy, because he’s scoring every week and it’s very draining.”
Draining or not, Surridge has thrived under the pressure. He’s currently third in the Golden Boot race, trailing Messi’s 26 goals and Bouanga’s 24, with Decision Day looming large. It’s a three-horse race that’s gripped fans across the league, and the final regular season game—Nashville hosting Inter Miami—could well decide who claims the prize. “It might come down to the final game, which will be interesting for everyone. At the same time, I have got my head switched on for what I need to do and I am not thinking about that too much,” Surridge said, flashing a smile that belies the intensity of the competition.
For Surridge, this season has been a whirlwind of milestones. His winning goal in the US Open Cup final earlier this month delivered Nashville SC its first-ever professional sports championship, a feat unmatched by the city’s NFL Titans or NHL Predators. “A lot of people like their sports in general,” Surridge reflected. “They will go watch the NFL, NHL and soccer. They love it here. I have seen it grow and the Lionel Messi-effect definitely helps.”
It’s not just the fans who are feeling the shift. Nashville SC, founded only nine years ago and joining MLS in 2020, has seen its purpose-built GEODIS Park become a fortress, regularly drawing over 30,000 fans. The Messi-led Miami squad, featuring stars like Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Rodrigo de Paul, promises to bring even more spectacle to the city on Decision Day. “We are fortunate to get a lot of fans at our stadium, but a lot of clubs change stadiums when Inter Miami come. It is a massive occasion for the football club,” Surridge explained.
Despite the glamour and the global spotlight, Surridge’s journey to this moment has been anything but conventional. While Messi was collecting Champions League trophies and Ballon d’Ors, Surridge was learning his craft in the lower leagues of English football, bouncing from loan spells at Weymouth, Poole Town, Yeovil, and Oldham before breaking through at Bournemouth and later Nottingham Forest. “I look at coming from Weymouth, then Poole Town, Yeovil, Oldham and all these clubs that I played for when I was younger—they all gave me that grounding,” he recalled. “I learned a lot there. It put me in good stead for playing in America because they have probably not experienced the way I played. Even though it was hard going out on loan when I was younger, it has stood me in good stead now.”
His move to Nashville was prompted by a desire for a fresh challenge and regular football, with the club paying around £5 million to secure his services as a designated player. “I wanted to go and play. I wanted to try something different,” Surridge said. “Nashville gave me that opportunity when they said, ‘here is the number nine shirt, you come do the business for us’. I feel like I have repaid their faith. That is what I've wanted from a team. I had it in spells in my career, but for this amount of time I've not really experienced that. Now I have got it, it will take a lot to want to move on from that. So I'm very happy.”
Off the pitch, Surridge has found a sense of belonging in Nashville, a city he now calls home with his fiancée, young son, and their dog. “We have enjoyed travelling and seeing different parts of America. We are fortunate to live here in a good city, it’s definitely made that easier,” he shared. The stability and support have translated into his most prolific season yet—29 goals in 36 games, nearly double his previous best. “Experience and age helps. I’ve carried on working hard. As you get older you get more experience and when in front of goal you are a lot more calm. That security of having the backing of a club that want to play me every week definitely helps as well. I know what I need, and I know what I want from a club and players now.”
Looking ahead, Surridge is mindful of the challenges that await, not least the sweltering heat anticipated for next summer’s World Cup in North America. “It's going to be really difficult for players to adjust to the heat,” he cautioned. “You saw it in the Club World Cup, where teams couldn't even train because it was so hot and it is not easy. I cannot imagine what playing at 3pm in the middle of the day will be like. You get your water breaks, but that just doesn't help at all. It is going to be a lot slower. You don't want to lose the ball and be running around for half an hour trying to get it back in the heat.”
For now, though, all that matters is Decision Day. With Nashville currently sixth in the Eastern Conference and both teams jostling for playoff seeding, the stakes could not be higher. Surridge needs a hat-trick to catch Messi’s tally, but as he’s shown all season, he’s not one to back down from a challenge. “Obviously competing with him is nice. But at the same time, I’ve had my goals where I wanted to get to and hopefully I’m not done yet.”
As the final whistle approaches, Nashville’s soccer story is still being written. Whether Surridge can pull off the extraordinary and match Messi’s goal total remains to be seen—but one thing’s for sure: the city, the league, and the fans are in for a Decision Day they won’t soon forget.
