Scoring to help Argentina reach Copa America final, Messi extends record

With a goal against Canada in the Copa America 2024 semi-final this morning (July 10) in the US, Lionel Messi continued to extend the records he holds.

Specifically, Messi has increased his number of matches at the Copa America to 38 (Messi did not play in the match between Argentina and Peru at the end of the group stage, otherwise this number would have been 39), far surpassing the achievement of the closest player, goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone (Chile).

The Argentine star holds another Copa America record, with 18 assists.

 

Notably, Messi’s assists appeared in a total of 7 tournaments he attended, including Copa America tournaments in 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024.

Messi now has 14 goals in the Copa America, after he scored against Canada this morning, matching the tally of Paolo Guerrero (Peru) and Eduardo Vargas (Chile). The two players also appeared in this year’s tournament, but Peru and Chile were eliminated by Argentina.

Messi’s scoring record in the South American football championship is still behind the records of Norberto Mendez (Argentina) and Zizinho (Brazil). Each of them has scored a total of 17 goals in Copa America.

Messi himself still has the Copa America 2024 final (taking place at 7:00 a.m. on July 15 in Miami, Florida, USA) to catch up with this achievement, if El Pulga scores a hat-trick in the final.

Regarding his national team scoring record, with his goal against Canada this morning, Messi extended his record for scoring goals for the Argentine national team to 109. With 109 goals, he is the second-best scorer in world history, just behind Cristiano Ronaldo ‘s record of 130 goals for the Portuguese national team.

If only counting South America, Messi is the player who scores the most goals for the national team, far surpassing the achievement of “King of Football” Pele, who scored 77 goals for the Brazilian team.

Messi has 186 caps for Argentina, after he played against Canada this morning, a record in the land of Tango. To date, Messi is also the only Argentine player to have participated in 7 different Copa Americas.

Several other records await Messi ahead, if he plays successfully in this year’s Copa America final, helping Argentina win their 16th title in the history of this football.

Argentina’s opponent in the Copa America 2024 final on July 15 in the US will be the winner of the semi-final match between Uruguay and Colombia (7:00 a.m. on July 11).