FULL TIME Argentina 2-0 Canada: Lionel Messi creates highlight, Argentina has 3 points on Copa America opening day

Argentina entered the opening match of the 2024 Copa America as the defending champions of the tournament. Against their opponents Canada, many predicted that Argentina would have an easy victory, but in reality, Scaloni’s army encountered many difficulties.

The match started at a fast pace right from the referee’s whistle, the opportunity came early for Argentina in the 9th minute, a pass that tore through the Canadian defense put Di Maria in a favorable position to finish, without wasting half a second watching the former PSG star unleash a low shot as hard as a needle but the Canadian goalkeeper played excellently.

Messi and his teammates failed to take advantage of their opportunities in the first half (photo: Getty)

Tit for tat, in the 43rd minute Canada made Argentina fans gasp with a golden opportunity. Taking advantage of a favorable cross from the right wing, Eustaquio jumped high to head the ball within the 5m50 box, but the ball went straight into goalkeeper Martinez’s position.

Entering the second half, Argentina pushed up their formation to look for a goal. What had to come happened, in the 49th minute Alexis Allister created a pass for Alvarez to shoot from close range, breaking the deadlock in the match.

Continuing the excitement, Argentina continuously created delicious opportunities but Messi and his teammates kept missing them. The name Messi brought many regrets when the Inter Miami star had two chances to face each other in the second half but could not score.

Alvarez’s goal helped Argentina break the deadlock (Photo: Getty)

However, all of Argentina’s efforts to score were duly rewarded. In the 88th minute, Messi had a perfect pass for Martinez to face, the Inter Milan star nutmegged the goalkeeper and sealed the score 2-0 for the team in blue and white stripes.

The 3 points gained have helped Argentina temporarily take the lead in Group A of Copa America 2024.