Lionel Messi’s first goal in this edition of the Copa América, and his 14th of the tournament overall, gave Argentina a 2-0 semi-final win over Canada on Tuesday night in front of more than 80,000 fans at a warm and humid MetLife Stadium.
The Argentina captain blocked a close-range shot from Enzo Fernández into the net early in the second half to secure his team a place in Sunday’s final. Messi’s goal added to an against-the-odds first-half goal from Julián Álvarez that dented an energetic opening from Jesse Marsch’s side.
La Albiceleste will face Uruguay or Colombia in the final at the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium. The second semi-final will take place in Charlotte on Wednesday night.
Argentina, the heavy pre-tournament favourites, were much better than their quarter-final win over Ecuador – when Emi Martínez was again needed to guide his team through a penalty shootout. However, Lionel Scaloni’s side will face a sterner test if the world champions are to reassert their dominance over the Americas.
It was the Canadians who had the better of the opening exchanges, on an unfamiliarly sandy and uneven surface. The underdogs’ sharp passing, movement and superior running made for several promising attacks. Nashville SC forward Jacob Shaffelburg might have done better with two shooting chances in the first 10 minutes.
Argentina, on the other hand, were less energetic than Canada and heavy in possession, with Messi firing just wide from 18 yards for his team’s only attempt on goal during the opening attacks.
It was not much later that Argentina took the lead in the 22nd minute through Álvarez. The Manchester City forward latched onto Rodrigo De Paul’s through ball and evaded the desperate challenge of Moïse Bombito before firing the ball through the legs of Maxime Crépeau, the hero of Canada’s quarter-final shootout.
The goal dampened the Canadians’ confident and fast start. Their intense pressure evaporated in the minutes before halftime on a sweaty night in New Jersey, but the prolific Jonathan David could have restored the equalizer in first-half injury time after a poked effort from a long throw was blocked by Martínez.
Argentina began the second period assertively and were quickly rewarded when Messi took a slight touch of the ball in the 51st minute to divert Fernández’s effort past Crépeau. It was his 14th goal in 38 Copa América games and 109th in 186 international matches for the national team. Messi looked brighter and fitter than in the quarter-final, when he had touched the ball just 32 times (his fewest in a full competitive match for Argentina since 2011, according to Opta) and missed in the shootout.
Surprisingly, he also played the full 90 minutes, which allayed fears of the adductor injury that had forced him to rest for the group stage match in Miami against Peru. While Messi stayed to the delight of the fans in attendance, another Argentine great, Ángel Di María, was withdrawn, knowing that his last match before retiring from international football will be Sunday’s final.
Canada continued to bravely carry on the game, even when star player Alphonso Davies was forced off with an apparent injury with 20 minutes remaining. Tani Oluwaseyi could have scored twice in two minutes in the final stages of the game, but wasted both chances, first shooting too close to Martínez and then heading wide with the goal gaping.
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The defeat ended Canada’s impressive run in the tournament, although they will play for third place on Saturday night. When these two teams met in the tournament opener, a comfortable if imperfect 2-0 win for Argentina last month, few expected a rematch in the semifinals.
However, Canada proved they are the class of Concacaf by beating Chile and Peru in the group, before securing a place in the last four with a penalty shootout victory over Venezuela.
It was evidence of the rapid progress under American coach Marsch, who led Canada to the semi-finals of a major tournament in his seventh game as coach.
This week, Marsh said he was at Italy’s 1994 World Cup semi-final victory at the same venue, scoring the goals for Princeton University 50 miles away.
The U.S. Soccer Federation, amid its messy coaching problem and just two years away from co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, may have looked at Canada’s progress in this tournament, with a less capable squad, and wondered, “what if?”