Lionel Messi will not be sidelined by a leg injury and is set to play in Argentina’s Copa America semifinal against Canada on Tuesday night.
Messi has been dealing with a right leg issue since Argentina’s group stage victory over Chile on June 25. He missed the subsequent match but played the full game in the quarterfinal win against Ecuador last Thursday.
“Leo is good. He will be playing tomorrow,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni confirmed on Monday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
At 37, Messi has scored 13 goals in the Copa America, four short of the record held by Argentina’s Norberto Méndez and Brazil’s Zizinho. However, he has yet to score in this year’s tournament.
“It’s an easy decision for me,” Scaloni said. “It’s a fairly honest decision: I ask him how he feels. If he says ‘I’m not good,’ then he will play the last 30 minutes. When he’s available, he will play.”
Argentina, aiming for a record 16th Copa America title, defeated Canada 2-0 in the tournament opener on June 20, with Messi assisting on second-half goals by Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez.
“We didn’t do well enough with Messi last match. He was able to run free at our goalkeeper too much,” said Jesse Marsch, the American hired as Canada’s coach in May. “We all know he’s the greatest player to ever play the game.”
In that match, Argentina outshot Canada 19-10, including 9-2 on target, and held 64% possession.
“It’s more of (an) advantage that we were able to play against them than it was for them to play against us,” Marsch said.
Both teams advanced to the semifinals after winning their quarterfinal matches on penalty kicks. Canada, an invited team from North America, defeated Venezuela.
In the other semifinal, Uruguay will face Colombia on Wednesday night in Charlotte, North Carolina. The final will take place on Sunday in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Argentina will benefit from four days of rest, one more than Canada, but both teams are coming off 90-minute matches. Tournament rules stipulate that extra time will only be used in the final if necessary.
Argentina is pursuing its third major title following the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup, aiming to match Spain’s achievement of winning the European Championship in 2008 and 2012, as well as the 2010 World Cup. Argentina and Uruguay are currently tied for the most Copa America titles, with 15 each.
Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez has won four consecutive shootouts: against Colombia in the 2021 Copa semifinals, against the Netherlands in the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals, against France in the final, and most recently against Ecuador last week.
Martínez, standing at 6-foot-5, is known for his constant movement and vocal attempts to distract opponents. He has saved eight of 18 shots, stopping Colombia’s Davinson Sánchez, Yerry Mina, and Edwin Cardona; the Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk and Steven Berghuis; France’s Kingsley Coman; and Ecuador’s Ángel Mena and Alan Minda.
Canada has been eliminated in the group stage of its only World Cup appearances in 1986 and 2022. It won the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, following its victory in the 1985 CONCACAF Championship, the predecessor tournament.
“We’re playing against the best team in the world,” said Cyle Larin, Canada’s all-time leading scorer with 29 goals. “We have a lot of speed and power, but I think over those days we’ve been together we’ve been growing.”
