Lionel Messi scores his first goal of Copa America 2024, Argentina heads to the final again

Argentina's forward #10 Lionel Messi fights for the ball with Canada's midfielder #23 Liam Millar, Canada's midfielder #20 Ali Ahmed, Canada's defender #13 Derek Cornelius and Canada's midfielder #21 Jonathan Osorio during the Conmebol 2024 Copa America tournament semi-final football match between Argentina and Canada at MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford, New Jersey on July 9, 2024. (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA / AFP) (Photo by JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images)
By The Athletic Staff
Jul 10, 2024

By Paul Tenorio, Felipe Cardenas, Joshua Kloke and Adam Crafton

Lionel Messi is inevitable. Argentina is inevitable.

Headed into Tuesday’s semifinal against Canada, Messi had gone three games at the tournament without finding the back of the net, including a failed Panenka in a penalty shootout against Ecuador in the quarterfinal. But he finally broke onto the scoresheet in time to help his country reach a fourth Copa America final in five years.

Julian Alvarez, who was rotated back into the starting lineup in place of Lautaro Martinez, had scored first to quell Canada’s promising start. And Argentina never relinquished the upper hand.

The Athletic was at the match to dissect the key talking points…

Follow live coverage of Uruguay vs Colombia in the Copa America 2024 semifinal today

How did Messi score his first goal of Copa America 2024?

Argentina’s second goal started with a Messi burst into the Canada penalty area. It was reminiscent of the goal he scored against Australia in the second round of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Messi beat Canada’s Stephen Eustáquio then combined with Rodrigo De Paul for a quick one-two inside the box. Ismaël Koné was able to momentarily clear the ball, but it fell to Enzo Fernandez, who quickly put a shot on target. Messi opportunistically redirected the ball into the net in the 51st minute.

In doing so, Messi became the second highest all-time international men’s goalscorer, eclipsing Ali Daei, the Iran forward who scored 108 goals for his country between 1993 and 2006. Messi, 37, is now onto 109 — 21 goals behind the record holder, his great rival, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 130.

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Ronaldo is 39 years old and played every game of Portugal’s Euro 2024 but failed to score, leading many to wonder whether he may soon call time on his international career. As of yet, however, he has provided no hint to this effect.

Messi has 109 goals in 186 caps, meaning a goal every 1.7 games, while Ronaldo’s 130 goals have been scored across 212 games, meaning a goal every 1.63 games. We will let you argue in the comments as to whether you would rather be Ronaldo, whose 21-goal advantage appears tricky to chase down, or Messi, with the better goals-per-minute ratio (and a World Cup winner’s medal).

How did Argentina open the scoring?

Argentina had threatened just once or twice and Canada seemed game to keep this semifinal close until an foul that escaped a whistle, a bit too much space for De Paul and a clever touch and finish from Alvarez.

A long pass out of the back from Canada sought a player on the right wing, but an Argentina defender collided with a Canadian and the ball dropped harmlessly. As Canada coach Jesse Marsch gestured for a foul to be called, smacking his hands into the grass, Argentina recycled the ball around the back and found De Paul, who played a beautiful ball to Alvarez’s feet near the top of the box. Alvarez touched the ball past Moise Bombito and finished easily to give Argentina the 1-0 advantage.

 Both of Alvarez’s goals in Copa America came against Canada. (Getty Images)

The goal opened the game up a bit more for Argentina, but they weren’t able to find a second before the break and went into the half with a 1-0 lead until Messi’s masterclass.

Did Canada miss chances?

A major question surrounding Canada from the entire tournament is how they can become more clinical close to goal.

 Canada lacked solutions to Argentina’s attack. (Getty Images)

Canada deserve credit for storming as far as they did, but two goals in five games does not lead to sustainable success. Considering Canada finished the tournament with over 6 xG (expected goals), generating opportunities wasn’t their problem. It simply came down to a lack of precision and, crucially, Canada’s attackers not always being in sync.

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Jacob Shaffelburg was a joy to watch because of the fearlessness he played with, but it was especially clear against Argentina his timing alongside Cyle Larin and Jonathan David, two experienced forwards, was off. Is more patience in front of goal the answer moving forward? Do they need to create even better chances? Did bad luck play a role?

These are questions that should be at the top of the list for Marsch to answer in his post-tournament analysis. He has the kind of quality up front that teams Canada will likely play in 2026 won’t have. Marsch and Canada can’t still be having the “finishing” discussion in two years.

How did Jesse Marsch manage the game?

Some of Marsch’s decisions look like wise ones: going back to 22-year-old Ismael Koné after the crafty midfielder struggled in the tournament opener and did not play for Canada’s final group-stage match seemed like a gamble considering how experienced Jonathan Osorio looked. But the gamble paid off.

Canada’s rare moments of quality and dynamic play came thanks to Koné moving the ball quickly and confidently. Koné coming back from those aforementioned struggles speaks to a genuine emotional maturity that should help him in his development.

 With seven games at the helm, Marsch led Canada to a tournament semifinal. (Getty Images)

Later in the game, however, Marsch’s substitutions spoke to a different game plan. Moving on from his best forward, David, early in the second half for Tani Oluwaseyi, with just 17 MLS matches to his name, suggested either Marsch felt the game was out of reach and he wanted Oluwaseyi to gain valuable experience, or he had lost faith in David.

Marsch then doubled down by substituting in Mathieu Choiniere for his first appearance of the tournament – and for just his fourth international cap – for his longtime general of the midfield, Eustaquio.

Look, experience is good and necessary for Canada’s emerging players and could benefit them come 2026, when Marsch will need a deeper bench. But Canada also never really mounted much pressure in the second half, making the game feel more out of reach than it might have been.

It’s worth wondering if some of those substitutions – along with Alphonso Davies being forced to leave the game with an injury in the 71st minute – kept the game further out of reach than it needed to be.

What did Marsch say?

The Canada coach said: “The tournament caught up with us a little bit. … In the end, we’re still in the beginning of our process, right? Argentina has maybe had eight years together, seven years together with this team. And so we need to develop more players that can contribute so that we can also rotate in tournament play, because eventually the physicality and the fatigue can catch up with you. And that was a big part of what happened with us today.”

On what happened with Marsch heading into the break when cameras showed the coach yelling: “I was OK at halftime. I was just trying to push our guys to be ready for the second half.”

On what he told his team after the loss: “I think in general, what I said to the team afterwards is: I know that they’re very disappointed, but I’m very proud of them. You know, we’ve put together some incredible performances. We need to continue to challenge our group to come together and be able to perform in moments like this, but in general, we’ve had a wonderful five weeks together, six weeks together, and and it’s gone way better than any of us could have scripted so, there’s still a lot of work to do, but we’ve built a really good foundation and I’m really optimistic about what the future can look like.”

What’s next for each team?

Argentina will face the winner of  Uruguay vs. Colombia in the final on Sunday, July 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET (Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida)

Canada heads to the third-place game and will face either Uruguay vs. Colombia on Saturday, July 13 at 8:00 p.m. ET (Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina)

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(Photo credit: Getty Images) 

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