Leading Atlanta United to their first win of 2026, Miguel Almirón dialed back the clock in Saturday afternoon’s 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Union at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The 32-year-old club legend provided the assist on each of Atlanta United’s three goals, recording his first-ever hat trick of assists in a league game and the third overall multi-assist performance of his MLS career.
The Paraguayan international also became the club's all-time leader in assists with 38 in the MLS regular season.
Off the mark
In a reunion of key figures from Atlanta’s 2018 MLS Cup presented by Audi-winning campaign, Almirón and head coach Tata Martino had hoped for better out of the gate.
Saturday’s win snapped a three-game losing streak to start the new season and kick-started Almirón’s bid to outdo his 6g/7a return to MLS from a 2025 season in which Atlanta United struggled to a 14th-place finish in the East.
“It generates a lot of confidence as a coach,” Martino said postgame. “...Even though we haven't had the best start, we need to continue like this. We know there's still things to work on.
"We can't be satisfied with just this. We need to be able to continue to build from here.”
World Cup watch
The Atlanta United faithful won’t be the only ones happy to see Almirón’s latest masterpiece.
Miggy is in line to be one of the focal points of Paraguay’s attack in this summer’s 2026 FIFA World Cup after serving a vital role for La Albirroja’s run through the CONMEBOL gauntlet of qualifiers.
Almirón has been capped 73 times by Paraguay, scoring nine goals.
"I always want to emphasize the work of my teammates, but I'm always going to highlight the work of my teammates," Almirón said. "I think we are all getting used to the system Tata wants us to play."
