Lautaro Martinez’s late goal takes Argentina into the quarter-finals of the Copa America

The home of the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Giants – and venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup final – was transformed into the home stadium of the Argentine national team and the expectant crowd saw Messi and Co. dictate proceedings from the early stages.

Messi’s strike partner Julian Alvarez forced Bravo into a save with a direct shot in the 22nd minute after Nicolas Gonzalez had pulled the ball back from the byline.

Chile neutralized Messi well and at times had three players under pressure.

But in the 36th minute, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner narrowly missed the opening goal when his shot from 23 meters grazed the outside line of the post.

Chile had twice disappointed Argentina with their victories in the Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016. The last time they won at MetLife Stadium, Messi responded by briefly retiring from the national team.

But even though Chile remained stubborn, the world champions exude a certain self-confidence and believe that they can turn a game in their favor at any time.

With Argentina increasing the pressure, Bravo made a good save at the near post after the break from a Nahuel Molina shot and then showed a great reaction to tip a fierce Nicolas Gonzalez shot onto the crossbar.

Chile threatened with counterattacks and twice Argentine goalkeeper Martinez had to do his best to fend off advances from Rodrigo Echeverria.

The decisive moment came when Chile failed to clear Messi’s corner kick and Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal, which was confirmed by video evidence after a lengthy offside review.

Lautaro could have scored a second goal after a solo effort by Angel Di Maria, but in the end the single goal was enough to give the world champions their second win in two games and secure their place in the next round early.

“I came in and was able to score. These games are always like this, we have to keep playing like this and approach the games like this because they all get complicated,” Lautaro told TyC Sports.

Canada triumphs

In another Copa America match, Jonathan David scored the only goal as Canada revived its campaign with a 1-0 victory over Peru, playing with a ten-man team, in sweltering Kansas City.

Lille striker David – who is reportedly being targeted by Manchester United and Chelsea – once again proved his goal-scoring ability with a cool finish to secure all three points at the Children’s Mercy Park Stadium.

During a game played in the scorching afternoon sun – with temperatures on the pitch reaching almost 38 degrees Celsius – one of the two assistant referees collapsed shortly before half-time, apparently due to heat exhaustion.

Canada, beaten 2-0 by Argentina in their opening match of the tournament, took the lead in the second half after Peru were reduced to ten men following the sending off of Miguel Araujo for a wild foul on substitute Jacob Shaffelburg that sparked a brawl between players from both teams.

Referee Mario Escobar initially only showed Araujo a yellow card for his ugly foul with his studs, but after a VAR review the punishment was increased.

This sending off decided a close game in Canada’s favour and in the 74th minute, David’s goal after a spectacular counterattack finally brought the breakthrough.

Left winger Shaffelburg played a sensational cross pass directly to David, who touched the ball once without stopping and then shot with his right foot past goalkeeper Pedro Gallese into the bottom corner.

Peru pushed for an equalizer, but Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau made a beautiful one-handed reflex save to deny Christian Cueva’s volley and also saved Paolo Guerrero’s free kick in injury time.

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