Lionel Messi is back on the score sheet, just in time for Argentina's Copa América title defense

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey — The inevitable happened. Lionel Messi finally scored at this Copa América.

It wasn’t anything fancy — in the 51st minute, Enzo Fernández found himself alone at the top of the box after a failed clearance by Canada. The Chelsea midfielder controlled the ball with his left foot and struck it with his right, and while the shot may have been going in anyway, Messi got a piece of it as the ball slipped past a diving Maxime Crepeau.

Messi’s goal sealed Argentina’s 2-0 win over Canada in Tuesday night’s semifinal at MetLife Stadium, clinching a spot in Sunday’s final in his current hometown of Miami (8 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). La Albiceleste will face the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal between Uruguay and Colombia (8 p.m. ET on FS1).

The Euro 2024 final is also on Sunday (3 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), and Spain will be there, due in part to 16-year-old Lamine Yamal making history by becoming the youngest player to score a goal in the history of the tournament in a 2-1 victory over France. After the match, he tweeted a photo of him and Messi from 2007 that recently went viral. 

Messi scored his first career goal at Copa América on July 9, 2007; Yamal was born four days later.

Messi’s goal against Canada marked his 14th in 38 career Copa América appearances. In tournaments that he has scored in, though, this is the longest it has taken him to nab that first goal. For recent comparison's sake, Messi scored seven at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, including twice in the final.

It's no secret that the 37-year-old superstar hasn’t been 100% healthy. He struggled with a hamstring injury earlier in the year that forced him to miss multiple matches for Inter Miami. And during Copa