Lionel Messi: 2 records the Argentina captain has set at the Copa America

Lionel Messi netted the second of Argentina’s goals in their Copa America victory over Canada at MetLife Stadium on Wednesday morning, with the defending champions defeating their semi-final opponent 2-0.

Lionel Scaloni’s men opened the scoring through Julian Alvarez in the 22nd minute and the Albiceleste doubled their advantage after the interlude when Messi diverted Enzo Fernandez's seemingly goal-bound effort past Maxime Crepeau to notch his first at the finals.

Argentina’s captain, who has suffered physical issues at the finals in the United States, had fired blanks in previous appearances against Canada in their tournament opener and Chile in the group phase before labouring in the quarter-final penalty shootout success in which he missed his spot-kick.

By scoring against Canada, Messi surpassed former Iran forward Ali Daei (108) to notch his 109th international goal for Argentina, with only Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (130) ahead of the 2022 World Cup winner.

The 37-year-old previously eclipsed erstwhile Chilean goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone’s 34 appearances with his participation in the defending champions’ tournament-opening win against Canada.

That took him to 35 matches across seven editions, and he has since featured three more times to take him to 38 Copa America appearances.

Messi and his Argentina teammates seek a successful defence of their crown when they face Colombia or Uruguay — who eliminated Brazil in the quarter-finals — in July 14's final at Hard Rock Stadium.