Located in Group A with the participation of Canada, Chile and Peru, Argentina is expected to not have many difficulties in getting through the group stage on the journey to defend the throne at Copa America.
Encountering the representative from the Concacaf region was considered much weaker, but Argentina had to go through a difficult 45 minutes in the first half.
Entering the second half, Lionel Messi was the most mentioned name. He was the one who scored the goal that broke the deadlock in the match. The Inter Miami star’s delicate pass gave Mac Allister a chance to score. The Liverpool player in a difficult position still managed to release the ball back to Julian Alvarez so the 24-year-old striker could open the score in the match.
In the final minutes of the match, Messi directly contributed an assist. In a similar situation to the first goal, Messi poked a favorable pass for Lautaro Martinez to beat goalkeeper Crepeau, doubling the gap for Argentina in the 87th minute.
Defeating Canada 2-0, the Argentine team got off to a good start at Copa America 2024 by temporarily leading Group A and Lionel Messi set many records on the opening day of Copa America 2024.
In addition to leaving his mark on Argentina’s victory, Lionel Messi also went down in history by setting two new records in the tournament. Specifically, Messi has played a total of 35 matches at Copa America since his debut in 2007, surpassing Sergio Livingstone to become the player with the most matches at the South American championship.
Chilean legend Sergio Livingstone set a record of 34 matches at Copa America in 1953, 71 years ago.
By participating in Copa America, Lionel Messi is the first Argentine player to attend the largest football festival in South America 7 times.
Messi currently has 13 goals at Copa America, only 4 goals shy of the record for most Copa America goals scored by legends Norberto Mendez (Argentina) and Zizinho (Brazil).
