Argentina beat Canada 2-0 at the Copa América on Tuesday night at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, as goals from Julián Álvarez and Lionel Messi sent the defending champions back to the final.
Argentina soaked up some early pressure before Alvarez ghosted in between two defenders to open the scoring with a tidy finish in the 22nd minute.
Messi had chances throughout the match and doubled the lead in the 51st minute when he stuck out a boot to divert Enzo Fernandez’s shot from the edge of the area past Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau.
It was his Messi’s first goal of the Copa so far this year and the 109th of his international career — tying him for second all time with Iran‘s Ali Daei.
Cristiano Ronaldo has the most international goals in men’s soccer history with 130.
Messi and Argentina beat Canada by the same scoreline in the group stage and won Group A with a perfect record after beating Chile and Peru. Lionel Scaloni’s team needed a penalty shootout to get past Ecuador in the quarterfinals.
The defending World Cup champions will face either Colombia or Uruguay in the final on Sunday in Miami Gardens, Florida.