Lionel Messi scored his first goal of the Copa America and his 14th goal of the tournament to lead Argentina to a 2-0 semifinal victory over Canada on Tuesday night in front of more than 80,000 fans at a muggy MetLife Stadium.
The Argentina captain deflected Enzo Fernandez’s shot into the goal early in the second half to seal his team’s place in Sunday’s final. Messi’s goal followed a first-half strike against the flow from Julián Alvarez to thwart a brave attacking effort by Jesse Marsch’s side.
The Albiceleste will face either Uruguay or Colombia in the final at the Miami Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium, with the second semifinal taking place in Charlotte on Wednesday night.
Tournament favourites Argentina have improved significantly since their quarter-final win over Ecuador – where Emi Martinez once again led them to victory on penalties – but Lionel Scaloni’s side will have a tougher test to overcome if the world champions are to reassert their dominance in the Americas.
The Canadians dominated the early exchanges on a strangely gritty and uneven surface. The underdogs’ crisp passing, movement and good running produced some promising attacks. Nashville SC forward Jacob Schaffelberg had two shooting chances inside the first 10 minutes, but could have done better.
Argentina, by comparison, looked less energetic and more ponderous in possession, and Messi’s shot, which went just wide from 18 yards, was the only shot on goal in his team’s early attack.
Alvarez put Argentina ahead in the 22nd minute, but it didn’t amount to much: The Manchester City striker got on to a through ball from Rodrigo De Paul, evaded a desperate tackle from Moïse Bombit and slotted the ball through the legs of Maxime Crepeau, Canada’s quarter-final penalty shootout hero.
The goal stifled a confident, fast start from Canada. On a sweaty New Jersey night, Canada’s intense pressure fizzled out a few minutes before halftime, but prolific scorer Jonathan David could have tied the game in first-half injury time after his piercing shot from a long throw was blocked by Martinez.
Argentina started the second half aggressively and were soon rewarded with a brilliant play from Messi in the 51st minute, when he deflected a Fernandez shot past Crepeau. It was Messi’s 14th goal in 38 Copa America games and 109th in 186 appearances for Argentina. Messi looked brighter and in better form than in the quarter-final, where he had just 32 touches of the ball (Argentina’s fewest in a full competitive match since 2011, according to Opta) and missed a penalty in the shootout.
Remarkably, he played the full 90 minutes, allaying concerns about an adductor injury that had forced him to rest in the group game against Peru in Miami. While Messi delighted the fans in attendance by staying in the game, another Argentina great, Angel Di Maria, sat out Sunday’s final, convinced it would be his last game before retiring from international football.
Canada kept up a valiant push even after star player Alphonso Davies was forced off injured 20 minutes from time. Tani Oluwaseyi had two chances to score in the final two minutes but missed both chances, first with a shot that was too close to Martinez and then with a header that deflected wide on an open goal.
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The loss ended Canada’s remarkable progress in the tournament, but the third-place playoff will take place Saturday night. When the teams met last month in their opening match, Argentina won comfortably 2-0, but it wasn’t perfect, and few expected a rematch in the semifinals.
But Canada proved itself a force to be reckoned with in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) by beating Chile and Peru in their group and then beating Venezuela on penalties to reach the quarterfinals.
It was a testament to their rapid improvement under American coach Marsh, who led Canada to a major semifinal in just seven games.
This week, Marsh watched Italy’s semi-final victory at the 1994 World Cup, played at the same venue, and recalled shooting into the goal at Princeton University, 50 miles away at the time.
With a shaky coaching staff and just two years until they co-host the 2026 World Cup, U.S. soccer officials may have looked at Canada’s underdog team’s performance in this tournament and wondered, “What if?”
