Lionel Messi’s Argentina accelerates its pace in search of a triple of trophies

In the most successful version of its history, Argentina injects football into a Copa América that, in American football stadiums and playing fields with measures on the edge of the regulations, smells of soccer. This Thursday against Ecuador in Houston, in the opening match of the quarter-finals of the tournament in the United States, the Lioneles’ team -Messi and Scaloni- will set out on the final hunt for an adventure so unattainable that it was only achieved by Spain between 2008 and 2012: the consecutive conquest of three titles, two continental and one world. The Argentine number 10 took so long to win with his national team the titles he multiplied with Barcelona that now his voracity is painted in sky blue and white.

If that Spain won the Euro Cups Austria-Switzerland 2008 and Poland-Ukraine 2012, with the World Cup South Africa 2010 in between, the current Argentina has already secured two stars, the Copa América Brazil 2021 and the World Cup Qatar 2022. To finish its trilogy in the current 2024 Cup, it needs three games, in two of which it is the clear favorite, not only this Thursday against Ecuador but also in a hypothetical semifinal matchup against the winner of Canada and Venezuela, the revelation of the tournament.

Conmebol seemed to pave the way for the current world champions – and the continent – with a fixture which prevents them from facing not only Brazil, but also Uruguay and Colombia, the two teams that for several months have seemed to be one step ahead of the five-time world champions. But, CONMEBOL peculiarities aside and awaiting those bigger rivals, Argentina demonstrated in its first three matches in the United States that it still has its teeth sharpened.

His three consecutive victories, 2-0 against Canada, 1-0 over Chile and 2-0 against Peru, also had an added value: Emiliano Draw Martínez kept his goal unbeaten, without conceding any goals. These are numbers that repeat a pattern of sporting hunger and group seriousness: after the epic Qatar 2022 final against France, Scaloni’s team won 16 of the 17 games it played. It is true that some were friendlies or fundraising matches whose results should be nothing more than an asterisk or a footnote, but in between there were tough duels, such as the 1-0 victory against Brazil at the Maracaná for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, also led by Argentina after six rounds.

Now 37, Messi faces a tournament without any pending issues for the first time since he started playing for his national team. The title in Qatar 2022 swept away all the questions he was still receiving in his country. Without pressure, the current Copa América can also serve as a measure for the number 10 to begin to define whether or not he will play in the 2026 World Cup, a decision that is also important for FIFA and its economic machinery: men’s soccer without Messi in the United States would resemble an unfinished, headless sport.

His peaceful exile at Inter Miami, however, raises some doubts about his physical condition for the high competition against defenders who, in more than one case, return to their national team after having participated in the European club season. Messi was injured in the first play of Argentina’s second game in the Cup, against Chile, and had to remain on the bench in the following match, against Peru. It is taken for granted that he will return against Ecuador, but it is not clear what state his injured area, the adductor muscle of his right leg, is in.

While Angel Di Maria is playing his last matches – he announced that he will leave the national team after the Cup – Argentina is taking advantage of the opportunity to give some play to its future players, who will have to cope without Messi: Alejandro Garnacho (from Manchester United, born in Madrid but with an Argentine mother) and Valentin Carboni (from Inter Italy, loaned last season to Monza, and described by Messi as “present and future”) got some minutes against Peru. The goals, however, are from Lautaro Martinez, the Inter Italy striker who scored four of Argentina’s five and is currently the top scorer in the Cup.

The three Argentine teams that won a World Cup each had their share of importance: choosing one over another sounds unfair. The first, Argentina 1978, led by César Luis Menotti, paved the way and provided a framework for the next two titles. The second, Mexico 1986, canonized Diego Maradona as a national hero. And the third, Qatar 2022, gave Messi the final prize his career deserved. Of the three, however, the only team that started its winning rhythm before the World Cup and maintained it afterwards was the Lioneles, who for now have relied more on craft than brilliance to begin their journey in the United States in search of more history, perhaps the definitive one.

It is true that favourites rarely win in football. And although Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay must first eliminate each other, in a hypothetical final they would be rivals of a level that the Albiceleste has not yet faced. In any case, Argentina and Messi are going for their complete works: the final trilogy.

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