Messi attends Copa America for the 7th time

Messi first played at the 2007 Copa America in Venezuela, scoring two goals in six matches, but Argentina lost 0-3 to Brazil in the final. Messi also lost to Chile on penalties in the 2015 and 2016 finals with Argentina. The 1987-born star lost to Uruguay in the quarter-finals of the 2011 Copa America and to Brazil in the semi-finals of 2019.

It was not until the most recent tournament - 2021 - that Messi and Argentina won the Copa America, thereby winning their first title at the national team level. He and his teammates defeated host Brazil 1-0 in the final, and also won three individual awards: Best Player, Top Scorer and Most Assists Player.

In total, Messi has played 34 times at the Copa America, the best number and equal to the late Chilean goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone - who participated in six Copa Americas in 1941, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1953. Messi will hold this record if he plays at the 2024 Copa America.

Messi has scored 13 goals at the Copa America, equal to Jair, Ademir (Brazil) and Gabriel Batistuta, José Manuel Moreno, Héctor Scarone (Argentina). He is only behind six players, including Eduardo Vargas (Chile), Paolo Guerrero (Peru) with 14 goals, Lolo Fernandez (Peru), Severino Varela (Uruguay) with 15 goals and Norberto Mendez (Argentina), Zizinho (Brazil) with a record of 17 goals. Messi will set a new milestone if he scores at least five goals at the 2024 Copa America.

Messi has 10 goals and nine assists in ten MLS appearances for Inter Miami this season, along with two goals and two assists in three CONCACAF Champions Cup appearances. The 36-year-old striker holds the record for scoring 106 goals in 180 appearances for Argentina.

The list of 29 Argentine players announced by coach Lionel Scaloni on April 20 includes many stars playing in the Premier League, such as Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Gonzalo Montiel (Nottingham), Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham), Alejandro Garnacho, Lisandro Martinez (Man Utd), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea) and Julian Alvarez (Man City). Meanwhile, only one player playing domestically is included, Franco Armani - the 37-year-old goalkeeper of River Plate.

The list is missing four 2022 World Cup winners, Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), Paulo Dybala (AS Roma) and Alejandro Gomez - a midfielder banned for two years for doping. Dybala's absence is surprising because the Roma striker has scored 16 goals in all competitions this season and has won the Serie A player of the month award three times.

Argentina will play friendlies against Ecuador on June 10 and Guatemala on June 14 before starting their title defence at the 2024 Copa America, where they will be grouped with Peru, Chile and Canada. Scaloni will leave out three names before announcing his final 26-man squad.

Preliminary list of Argentina team for Copa America 2024:

Goalkeeper:Franco Armani (River Plate), Geronimo Rulli (Ajax), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa).

Defender:Gonzalo Montiel (Nottingham), Nahuel Molina (Atletico), Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), German Pezzella (Real Betis), Lucas M. Quarta (Fiorentina), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), Lisandro Martinez (Man Utd), Marcos Acuna (Sevilla), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Valentin Barco (Brighton).

Midfielder:Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis), Leandro Paredes (Roma), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham).

Forward:Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Valentin Carboni (Monza), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Nicolas Gonzalez (Fiorentina), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Julian Alvarez (Man City).