New Jersey: The Lionel Messi-led Argentina side beat Canada 2-0 in the Copa America 2024 semifinal at the MetLife Stadium on Wednesday.
Argentina reached their second consecutive final of the competition and the defending champions will face the winner of semi-final 2, either Uruguay or Colombia in the title clash on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. This will be a record-extending 30th final appearance for the Argentinian football team.
Lionel Messi's team has reached a major final for the third time in a row. The Albiceleste won the 2021 Copa America, defeating Brazil 1-0 in the final. They went on to win the 2022 Qatar World Cup, defeating France 4-2 on penalties after the final was deadlocked 3-3 in extra time.
Coming to the encounter against the Canadian side, Argentina were looking comfortable from the start. They created chances and attacked the opponent's goal from the start.
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Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez scored the first goal for his national side by cutting two defenders in the 22nd minute and was assisted by Rodrigo De Paul.
Skipper Lionel Messi doubled his side's lead when he scored a goal in the 51st minute. Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez helped the 37-year-old in scoring the goal.
With this goal, Messi extended his international goal count (109) beyond Iran's Ali Daei's 108, making him the second-highest goal scorer of all time after Cristiano Ronaldo (130). This was Messi's 14th goal in Copa America history.
Highest international goal scorers in history:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal): 130 goals
2. Lionel Messi (Argentina): 109 goals
3. Ali Daei (Iran): 108 goals
4. Sunil Chhetri (India): 94 goals
5. Mokhtar Dahari (Malaysia): 89 goals
6. Ali Mabkhout (UAE); Romelu Lukaku (Belgium): 85 goals
7. Ferenc Puskas (Hungary): 84 goals
8. Robert Lewandowski (Poland): 83 goals
9. Godfrey Chitalu (Zambia); Neymar (Brazil): 79 goals
10. Hussein Saeed (Iraq): 78 goals.
—ANI
