On an afternoon in February 2023, with the excitement of the 2022 World Cup victory still fresh, Lionel Messi told the Argentine media: ‘I want to continue enjoying it. I want to keep playing for the Argentina national team. And keep winning.’

Now, Messi will return to the national team after nearly seven months of not wearing the Albiceleste jersey. The last time he played for Argentina was on November 21, 2023, in the historic victory at Maracana against Brazil (1-0, played 78 minutes). He was absent due to injury during the March tour against El Salvador and Costa Rica.

For the upcoming Copa America, regardless of whether he achieves the goal of repeating the championship double for Argentina like in 1991 and 1993, Messi has the chance to make history with two personal records.

Currently, just by appearing in Copa America 2024, Messi will surpass goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone (Chile), with whom he tied for 34 matches played in Copa America in the final in Brazil 2021. In other words, he will play one more match to break the appearance record that has stood since 1953.
Breaking the scoring record is a more challenging task as Messi is four goals behind the top two scorers in Copa America history, who shone in the 1940s and 1950s: Norberto Mendez (Argentina) and Zizinho (Brazil) with 17 goals each. La Pulga currently has 13 goals (2 in 2007, 1 in 2015, 5 in 2016, 1 in 2019, and 4 in 2021).

Messi comes to Copa America after continuously shining with Inter Miami, the team leading the MLS Eastern Conference. He has scored 14 goals in 15 matches this season, including MLS and the Concacaf Champions League. Additionally, he has contributed 11 assists, meaning he has been involved in a goal every 50 minutes on average.