Eight years ago, Messi was part of the Argentina team which lost the Copa America final on penalties to Chile at the New Jersey venue -- with the striker missing his team's first effort in the shoot-out.

This year, the Argentina captain gets to celebrate his birthday with the national team in the middle of the Copa America, ahead of their Tuesday Group A fixture against Chile in New Jersey.

Messi's appearances have been spread across seven editions of the Copa, starting with the 2007 tournament in Venezuela.

The Argentines, who won the tournament in 2021 and went on to hoist the 2022 World Cup, are no strangers to Copa America success.

"I've played against him [Messi], coached against him a few times and had some successes, but he always finds ways to make a difference because his quality is so amazing. So, that'll be the challenge for us," said Canada head coach Jesse Marsch.

When you have the greatest living player on Earth, you're going to be a favorite. That's certainly the case with Lionel Messi's Argentina, who have an extremely high-quality supporting cast around the still-magical, soon-to-be-37-year-old

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni announced the 26-player squad for the 2024 Copa America on Saturday, with Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria headlining the team.

Lautaro Martinez, this season's Serie A top scorer, put Argentina ahead with a penalty kick in the 39th minute before netting his second from a Messi pass after the break.

Doubles from Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martinez earned Argentina a 4-1 victory against Guatemala in their final Copa America warm-up.

"I spoke with (Argentinian Olympic coach Javier) Mascherano, and we immediately agreed on the situation," Inter Miami forward Messi said in the interview broadcast on Wednesday.

Messi's star turn raised the profile for MLS in the United States.

The Argentina football team led by Lionel Messi took part in their first formal training session at the Inter Miami Club Training Center in Miami in their build-up to the Copa America 2024 starting on June 21.

Inter, upset at home by Atlanta on Wednesday, appeared to be heading for another costly loss after a 68th-minute Luis Suarez own goal left St.Louis 3-2 up heading into the final minutes.

Lobjanidze stunned a star-studded Miami line-up with two long-range strikes either side of half-time to fire Atlanta into a 2-0 lead.

Inter Miami rested Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez but still managed to extend their unbeaten run in Major League Soccer to 10 games with a hard fought 2-1 win at the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday.

Messi, 36, has become the face of MLS since joining Miami last July, but he has yet to make an appearance in Vancouver.

AS Roma forward Dybala is the big absentee after several injuries that have ruled him out of previous internationals.

Despite the return of Lionel Messi to the starting line-up, after he missed the 0-0 draw at Orlando on Wednesday, Miami struggled to create chances against a very well organized D.C. defense.

The napkin on which Barcelona promised to sign Lionel Messi when he was a 13-year-old has been sold for 762,400 pounds ($969,000, auction house Bonhams said on Friday.

Lionel Messi's record $20.45 million annual salary from Inter Miami makes him by far the best paid player in Major League Soccer but also puts him ahead of the entire squads of 25 of the league's clubs, according to data released by the MLS Players Association on Thursday.