- The last champion faces the tournament debutant in the first Semifinal.
- They already met in the Group Stage.
The clock is ticking, and there is very little time left before the champion of the 48th edition of the CONMEBOL
Copa América™ is crowned: only four teams remain in search of glory, and this Tuesday, July 9, the first finalist will be decided in New Jersey.
Argentina and Canada opened the tournament on June 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with a 2-0 victory for La Albiceleste. The two teams qualified first and second in Group A, and both had to go to penalty shootouts in the Quarterfinals: Argentina prevailed over Ecuador, while Canada did the same against Venezuela.
Now the teams of Scaloni and Marsch will meet again with a great prize in sight: qualifying for the Final, on July 14 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
La Albiceleste has the tournament's top scorer (Lautaro Martínez), a goalkeeper in great form and a penalty shootout specialist (Emiliano Martínez), in addition to a generation that already knows what it is to win titles. Messi has recovered from the injury that sidelined him in the match against Peru and left him in doubt against Ecuador, and he is expected to start.
On the North American side, they are living a dream in their first participation in CONMEBOL Copa América™. Their great goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, the talent of Jacob Shaffelburg, and a solid defense are the main weapons of the team led by Jesse Marsch.
The winner of this match will await the winner of Colombia-Uruguay in the Final, while the losers of both matches will play for 3rd place on July 13 at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Where to watch Argentina-Canada?
The match will start at 20:00 in Ottawa (Canada) and at 21:00 in Buenos Aires (Argentina). It can be enjoyed as follows:
- Argentina: TyC Sports, Telefé, TV Pública, and DSports
- Canada: RDS, TSN, TSN+
- United States: FS1, TUDN, Univision
Argentina-Canada: History
They met once in the CONMEBOL Copa América™: it was on the first date of the Group Stage of this edition, and there was an Argentine victory by 2-0.
Facts to consider
- Argentina have won the last 10 matches against Concacaf rivals in official competitions. Additionally, they did not concede goals in the last six matches, a streak that began against Costa Rica at CONMEBOL Copa América 2011™. The last time La Albiceleste lost to teams from that confederation in senior tournaments was in 2004, when Mexico won 1-0 in the group stage of the CONMEBOL Copa América™.
- Argentina reached the semifinals in seven of the last eight major tournaments (World Cups and CONMEBOL Copa América™) they played. The only exception was the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when La Albiceleste was eliminated in the Round of 16 by France (3-4), the eventual champion of that tournament.
- Four players in the Argentine squad for this CONMEBOL Copa América™ are among the top 20 with the most appearances for La Albiceleste: Messi (1st with 185), Di María (3rd with 143), Otamendi (5th with 115), and the latest to join this list, Rodrigo De Paul (20th with 67).
- Under Lionel Scaloni's direction, Argentina reached the semifinals in the four major tournaments they competed in (CONMEBOL Copa América™ in 2019, 2021, and 2024 + FIFA World Cup 2022). Additionally, they finished second in the South American Qualifiers for Qatar and are leading the current standings.
- Argentina has played four penalty shootouts since Lionel Scaloni became their coach, and all were won by La Albiceleste: Colombia (CONMEBOL Copa América 2021™), Netherlands, and France (FIFA World Cup 2022), and Ecuador (CONMEBOL Copa América 2024).
- Argentina will face the same opponent twice in an edition of CONMEBOL Copa América for the fifth time under the current tournament format since 1993. Two clashes were in the semifinals (Colombia 1993 and Paraguay 2015) and two in the finals (Mexico in 1993 and Chile in 2016).
- It is the second time Canada faces a CONMEBOL rival in the semifinal or final of an official tournament, after the 2000 Concacaf Gold Cup, where they defeated Colombia in the final.
- The defending champions of CONMEBOL Copa América™ reached the semifinals on seven previous occasions under the current format since 1993. Only two did not reach the final: Colombia in 2004 (lost to Argentina) and Chile in 2019 (lost to Peru), both falling by the same score of 3-0.
- Alexis Mac Allister provided two assists in the CONMEBOL Copa América 2024™. Since these data have been recorded (2011), only Lionel Messi has provided three or more assists for Argentina in a single edition of the tournament (four times: 2011, 2015, 2016, and 2021).
- Canada generated more expected goals than their opponents in their last three CONMEBOL Copa América matches against Venezuela, Chile, and Peru. The only team that outperformed them in this regard during the tournament was Argentina in their debut (3xG to 1.2xG).
Source: OPTA
Possible lineups
Argentina: Emiliano Martínez; Nahuel Molina or Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Tagliafico; Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes or Enzo Fernández, Alexis Mac Allister; Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez or Lautaro Martínez, and Nicolás González or Ángel Di María. Coach: Lionel Scaloni
Canada: Maxime Crepeau; Alistair Johnston, Moise Bombito, Derek Cornelius, Alphonso Davies; Ismael Koné, Stephen Eustaquio; Liam Millar, Jonathan David, Jacob Shaffelburg; Cyle Larin Coach: Jesse Marsch
Referee appointments
Referee: Piero Maza (CHI)
Assistant referees: Claudio Urrutia and Jose Retamal (CHI)
Fourth referee: Cristian Garay (CHI)
VAR: Juan Lara (CHI)
Match information
Match: Argentina-Canada (Match 29, Semifinals) Date and time: July 9, 2024, at 20:00 local time (20:00 Canada/21:00 Argentina) Stadium: MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford, New Jersey
