Copa America 2024: Lionel Messi scripts two records as Argentina starts title defence with a win

Argentina footballer Lionel Messi became the most capped player in the history of Copa America when he took the field for the 35th time in the tournament. Messi broke Sergio Livingstone of Chile's 70-year record by helping Argentina win the FIFA World Cup.

Livingstone set the record in 1953 when he played 34 matches for Chile in the Copa America, spanning over six editions.

Messi also broke the record for the most appearances in the history of the tournament, as the ongoing edition is Messi’s seventh.

The Argentina striker made his South American Championship debut in 2007 and has since featured in every edition of the tournament – 2011, 2016, 2015, 2016 and 2021.

The Inter Miami striker is also Argentina’s highest goal scorer and is joint second in international football with 108 goals. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo leads the list with 130 goals.

Messi is also staring at breaking two more records during the course of the tournament. He is four goals away from equaling the all-time Copa America record of 17 goals, held jointly by Argentina’s Norberto Mendez and Brazil’s Zizinho.

Also, if Argentina manages to win the ongoing edition of the Copa America, Messi will become the first Argentina skipper to lead his team to consecutive titles.

Meanwhile, Argentina registered a 2-0 win over Canada in front of a crowd of 70,564 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday to open their Copa America 2024 account.

Julian Alvarez put Argentina ahead in the 49th minute, while Lautaro Martinez doubled Argentina’s lead in the 88th minute to put the contest to bed. Messi set up the second goal when he sent a defence-splitting pass which Martinez latched on to and finished the task.