(Football news) These two countries will square off in the highly anticipated match for the first time in the tournament’s history, with Argentina gearing up for a record-tying 30th final appearance and Colombia for only their third.
Argentina advanced to the semi-finals on Wednesday, defeating Copa America rookies Canada 2-0. The victory extended Argentina’s unbeaten streak in all competitions to ten games. Argentina had advanced from the quarter-finals with a nerve-wracking penalty-shootout victory over Ecuador.
After a goal by Julian Alvarez in the first half, Argentine legend Lionel Messi broke the record with a goal in the second half. With 109 goals, Messi has surpassed Ali Daei of Iran to become the second-highest male goalscorer in the history of international football.
Head coach Lionel Scaloni has insisted that Argentina’s course to the Copa America final has been no “bed of roses” as many predicted, and he has heaped praise on his players for overcoming “extremely tough” challenges en route to reaching a third successive major tournament final.
Ranked first in the world by FIFA, Argentina have had plenty of success during their time in the States and have still not lost a major tournament knockout fixture in regulation time on American soil since they were beaten by Romania at the 1994 World Cup.
Now just one victory away from an outright record 16th Copa America title – currently level on 15 with Uruguay – Argentina will have few issues motivating themselves for Monday’s final, which will be Angel Di Maria’s 145th and last match for the national team before he retires – Messi plans to continue playing beyond this summer’s tournament, though.
La Albiceleste will be confident of success against Colombia as they have won 26 of their previous 43 meetings in all competitions, including a penalty-shootout victory in the 2021 Copa America semi-finals, but they will be wary of the exceptional run of form put together by Los Cafeteros heading into the showpiece.
Indeed, since Colombia lost 1-0 to Argentina in World Cup qualifying in February 2022, they have set a new record for their longest-ever sequence without defeat, with Thursday’s semi-final triumph over Uruguay extending their impressive unbeaten run to 28 matches (W22 D6) in all tournaments.
Jefferson Lerma headed Colombia into a 39th-minute lead before Crystal Palace teammate Daniel Munoz was sent off in first-half stoppage time. Despite that, Los Cafeteros valiantly quelled the threat of Uruguay and held on to claim a slender 1-0 victory in North Carolina.
Buenos Aires-born Nestor Lorenzo, who is yet to taste defeat as Colombia head coach since his appointment in July 2022, believes that his side were rewarded for their bravery in the win over Uruguay in a contest that was marred by unsavoury scenes at full time, as Uruguayan players were involved in a mass brawl with supporters in the stands.
Ranked 12th in the world by FIFA, Colombia have reached the final four in three of the last four Copa America tournaments, but after falling short in 2016 and 2021 – finishing third on both occasions – Los Cafeteros are now preparing for their first Copa America final since they were crowned champions for the very first time back in 2001 on home soil.
Although Colombia are understandably in high spirits thanks to their superb unbeaten run, Lorenzo’s men will enter Monday’s showpiece event as underdogs, as they have only beaten Argentina three times in 21 meetings this century, including their most recent victory (2-0) in the group stage of the 2019 Copa America.
Also read: England will play Spain in the finals of the Euro 2024
