The 37-year-old superstar last played for Argentina in the 1-0 victory over Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on November 21, 2023, in the qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup in South America.
The reason M10 was absent for so long was because he was injured and missed two friendly matches won by El Salvador 3-0 and Costa Rica 3-1 in March 2024.
Messi is currently training with the Argentine national team to prepare for the 2024 Copa América. The location is the training camp of Inter Miami, the American Professional League (MLS) club for which he plays.
Messi returned to train with the Argentine national team for the first time after 195 days of absence.
According to the plan, Messi and his teammates will play friendly matches against Ecuador and Guatemala on June 9 and 14.
Next, they will begin the path to defend the championship with matches against Canada (June 20), Chile (June 25) and Peru (June 29) within Group A of the Copa América 2024.
This is the seventh time that the forward born in 1987 attends the Copa América and aspires to “monopolize the record” of the tournament.
Messi has appeared 34 times in the Copa América, the best statistic and equal to the late goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone. The late legendary Chilean goalkeeper participated in the Copa América 6 times in 1941, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1949 and 1953; superstar Messi will monopolize this record if he plays in the 2024 Copa América.
Messi has scored 13 goals in the Copa América, an achievement equal to Jair, Ademir (Brazil) and Gabriel Batistuta, José Manuel Moreno, Héctor Scarone (Argentina). He is only behind 6 players: Eduardo Vargas (Chile), Paolo Guerrero (Peru) with 14 goals, Lolo Fernández (Peru), Severino Varela (Uruguay) with 15 goals, Norberto Méndez (Argentina) and Zizinho (Brazil) with 15 goals . 17 goals. Messi will mark a new milestone if he scores 5 or more goals in the Copa América 2024.
If it manages to defend the championship, Argentina will establish a new record for victories in the Copa América. They and Uruguay currently hold the record of 15 crowns.
Messi and the Argentine team won the 2021 Copa América in Brazil.
Messi arrived at this year’s Copa América in great shape. He has played 15 games for Inter Miami since the start of the 2024 season, scoring 14 goals and 13 assists, helping the home team lead MLS with 35 points after 18 games.
The former Barcelona captain holds the record of scoring 106 goals in 180 games for Argentina.
The 2024 Copa América includes 16 teams divided into 4 groups and the 2 best teams in each group will earn tickets to the quarterfinals. The tournament will take place from June 20 to July 14 in 14 cities in the United States.
