After coming agonisingly close in 2007, 2015 and 2016, Lionel Messi finally won his first and only Copa America title in 2021 after Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in the final.
Messi finished as the joint-highest scorer with four goals, along with Colombia’s Luis Diaz.
Group stages
Argentina was placed in Group A, along with Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia.
It started its group stages with a 1-1 draw against Chile, with Messi and Eduardo Vargas scoring a goal each.
In its second match, Argentina secured its first win of that edition with a 1-0 win against Uruguay. Guido Rodriguez scored the only goal of the clash.
In their third match, La Albiceleste again eked out a 1-0 win against Paraguay, with Papu Gomez getting on the scoresheet.
In Argentina’s final group match against Bolivia, it clinched a convincing 4-1 win. Gomez again opened the scoring, followed by a Messi brace, which included a penalty. Lautaro Martinez scored the fourth goal for the Albiceleste.
Quarterfinals
It was a straightforward quarterfinal for Argentina after it beat Ecuador 3-0. Rodrigo De Paul scored the opener in the 40th minute. It stayed 1-0 for a long time after that, with the second goal coming only in the 84th minute with Lautaro Martinez. Messi provided the icing on the cake in the third minute of second-half added time, scoring Argentina’s third.
Semifinals
Argentina faced Colombia in the semifinal. It was a nervy outing for Argentina, with the match]h finishing 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes, Messi and Diaz got on the scoresheet for their respective teams.
With the match going to penalties, Argentina found a hero in goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who made three saves - Davidson Sanchez, Yerry Mina and Edwin Bedoya’s spot-kicks. On Argentina’s end, Messi converted Albiceleste’s first penalty. De Paul missed the next, but Leandro Paredes and Lautaro scored the next two.
After Sanchez and Mina’s miss, Bedoya had to score to keep the shootout going, but Martinez saved to take Argentina to the final.
Final
The final was perfectly poised, with arch-rival Argentina facing Brazil at the historic Maracana Stadium. The game began with a note of caution from both sides, but it was Argentina, which made the breakthrough after De Paul’s aerial lob sent Di Maria clear on goal.
One-on-one with the keeper, Di Maria kept his calm to lob the ball over Brazil keeper Ederson for the opener.
The match did not have any more goals, with Messi coming close to scoring a second late in the match.
Argentina held on and won its first major trophy in 28 years, and captain Messi won his first-ever major title in national colours.
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