Copa América Day 1: Argentina defeats Canada in Atlanta as crowd chants Lionel Messi's name

Follow along with GPB Sports as we cover the Copa América international men's soccer tournament, which returns to Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday, June 27 for a matchup between Panama and the United States.

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It was as close as you could get to an Argentina home match without actually being in Buenos Aires.

Every time Argentinian team captain Lionel Messi was shown on the overhead screen — whether from a helicopter, as a passenger on a bus traveling to Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, walking in super slo-mo inside the stadium itself while heading to the locker room, flashing the official credit card of the competition, going out onto the field for warmups, a national anthem singalong, or every touch on offense — the Albiceleste (men's national soccer team of Argentina) were made to feel right at home as the debut match for the 2024 Copa America began.

There were Canada fans in the building, but they were outnumbered — boy, were they outnumbered! — But they were vocal from the 300 section in the stadium's rafters.

Argentina fans in their 80s watched their team for the first time in person, looking to meet Messi. Young fans wore Messi jerseys, wanting to meet the man who is considered to be one of the world's best soccer players. And then there were the fans who brought in posters, banners, and spray-art of the GOAT of the sport — they were all in attendance.

Although Messi also plays for MLS and Inter Miami FC, many Atlanta United fans have not had the chance to see him play in person at home. Atlanta United made history May 29 when they achieved their 100th regular season win in club history, beating Miami 3 to 1 in Fort Lauderdale. That Atlanta win marked the first time Messi lost a match he has scored in since Argentina's loss to Saudi Arabia in their opening match of the 2022 World Cup. 

But for the sellout crowd of just over 70,000 fans, Thursday night's Copa América game was all about Argentina.

The two sides were goalless at the break. But Argentine midfielder Alexis Mac Allister sacrificed his body to keep possession and connect with his teammate Julian Alvarez (who also serves in the English Premiere League as a Manchester City forward) for the match's first goal in the 49th minute.

Messi had two chances to score in the second half, where his team passed long and over-the-top of the Canadian backline: the first was a goal in the 65th minute that gave the crowd a 1v2 slaloming chase inside the 18; the second opportunity resulted in a tackle that dispossessed Messi inside the box from behind about 15 minutes later. The majority of fans wanted a penalty call on the second chance, but it wasn't considered.

Messi and Lautaro Martinez combined to break through the Canada press to score goal No. 2 in the 88th minute for the final margin. The win snapped a four match-opening game losing streak across Argentina's last four national team competitions.

Next up for the two teams are matches on Tuesday, June 25 when Argentina plays Chile at The Meadowlands in New Jersey and Canada travels to Kansas City to take on Peru.

Messi, with the start for Argentina, set a new record for appearances in the tournament with 35 (and counting, presumably).

Friday night, June 21 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Peru and Chile will have their collective debut in the world's oldest national team tournament to complete the 2024 Copa America Group A competition. Kickoff is slated for a little after 8 p.m. EDT.

Follow along with us at GPB Sports as we cover the tournament, which returns to Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday, June 27 for a matchup between Panama and the United States.