- Lionel Messi will play his seventh CONMEBOL Copa América™ in the United States.
- He could become the top scorer of the competition and the player with the most appearances in the history of the tournament.
Lionel Messi played his first CONMEBOL Copa América™ in 2007: that memorable team led by Alfio Basile and composed of players like Juan Sebastián Verón, Juan Román Riquelme, and Hernán Crespo, among others, reached the Final of the tournament. Messi played six matches and scored two goals, one of them well remembered against Mexico in the Semifinal.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yx0XkjWHjXc
The editions of 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019 passed, and finally in 2021, the Argentine would win the tournament for the first time. Not only that, but he played all seven matches, being the top scorer of the tournament (alongside Luis Díaz) with 4 goals and was chosen as the best player of the CONMEBOL Copa América 2021™.
Those good numbers in the Brazil edition helped Messi equal the record for the most appearances in a CONMEBOL Copa América™: Chilean goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone held the record of 34 matches played since 1953. If Messi played just one match in the 2024 edition, he would be the player with the most matches in this tournament that has 108 years of history.
The other record Messi is aiming for has another level of complexity: the Argentine has scored 13 goals in his six appearances in the tournament, and the position of top scorer is shared at 17 goals by a compatriot of his (Norberto Méndez) and a Brazilian (Zizinho). Méndez played the tournament in the 1940s while Zizinho did the same in the 1940s and 1950s.
A man who holds an enormous number of records and titles, both in the Argentine national team and at club level, the CONMEBOL Copa América 2024™ presents itself as a great stage for the Argentine number 10 to continue writing his greatness into the history books.
Matches and goals per tournament
Venezuela 2007: six matches, two goals.
Argentina 2011: four matches, no goals.
Chile 2015: six matches, one goal.
United States 2016: five matches, five goals.
Brazil 2019: six matches, one goal.
Brazil 2021: seven matches, four goals.
Total: 34 matches, 13 goals
CONMEBOL.com / OPTA
