There is no tomorrow! Argentina and Canada seek a spot today for the 2024 Copa América final

The first duel of the semi-finals will be the second match in this edition of the Copa America 2024 among the finalists, Argentina and Canada.

In the CONMEBOL tournament, both teams have already met in the group stage. Argentina, the current Copa America champion, beat Ecuador in the quarterfinals, while Canada made history by defeating Venezuela on penalties.

The next opponent will be defined in Thursday’s match between Colombia and Uruguay.

Argentina and Canada opened the championship

After a 1-1 draw in regulation time during the quarter-finals, Lionel Scaloni’s team scored a dramatic 4-2 penalty victory once morest La Tri. The outstanding performance of Dibu Martínez, who saved two penalties, was key to the victory, as were the successes of Julián Álvarez, Alexis Mac Allister, Gonzalo Montiel and Nicolás Otamendi. Curiously, Lionel Messi missed the first shot of the series.

As the reigning champion of the CONMEBOL continental competition, La Scaloneta was the first team to qualify following the group stage. La Albiceleste secured Group A with a perfect performance and a clean slate, beating Canada 2-0, Chile 1-0 and Peru 2-0.

In the initial stage, the Argentine team led the ranking of passes with 1830, the list of correct passes with 1649, and headed the recoveries with 72.

Canada, meanwhile, became the big surprise by qualifying for the semi-finals. The only team making its debut in the Copa America, out of the 16 that started the competition, beat Venezuela in the quarter-finals in a penalty shoot-out by 4-3 following a 1-1 draw.

In the group stage, Jesse Marsch’s team finished second in their group behind Argentina and advanced to the knockout stage following accumulating 4 points with only one goal scored. They started their journey in the competition with a 2-0 defeat to the Albiceleste, followed by a 1-0 victory over Peru and a goalless draw once morest Chile.

The referee in charge of directing the match will be Piero Maza Gómez.

Argentina’s data

• The Argentine national team will compete in a Copa América semi-final for the fifth time, becoming the team that has reached this stage the most times in a row (2015, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024). In three of these editions, they reached the final of the competition, being eliminated by Brazil in 2019.
• The victory over Ecuador in the quarter-finals extends the Albiceleste’s streak to 12 games without a defeat, with 9 wins, 3 draws and 6 clean sheets in all competitions.
• In the semi-finals, Argentina has managed to get through this phase on 6 of the 7 occasions played in the Copa América (1993, 2004, 2007, 2015, 2016 and 2021), managing to lift two trophies (1993 and 2021). In two editions, they eliminated Colombia on penalties and then became champions: first with Alfio Basile in Ecuador 1993 and then with Lionel Scaloni in Brazil 2021.
• Emiliano Martínez is one of the team’s heroes. In the last four penalty shoot-outs, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the goalkeeper of the world champion team has made 8 saves. Counting one more in regulation time, Dibu has an effectiveness of 37.5%, having stopped 9 of 24 shots. He has scored on 12 opportunities and in another 3 shots the opponent kicked out.
• Lautaro Martínez is the top scorer in this edition of the Conmebol tournament with 4 goals. He is also the player of the Argentine national team with the most shots, totaling 10.
• Cristian “Cuti” Romero is another of the outstanding players of the Albiceleste present in the statistics of the competition. He is the player with the most completed passes, totaling 238. In addition, within the Scaloneta, he leads in tackles with 15 and in clearances with 18.

Canada data

• Les Rouges made history as the fourth Concacaf team to reach this stage of the Conmebol tournament, along with Mexico, the United States and Honduras.
• The Canadians also became the third member of the confederation to reach the semi-finals in their senior debut, behind the Mexicans (2nd place in Ecuador 1993) and the Hondurans (3rd place in Colombia 2001).
• The Canadian team remains unbeaten in the opening halves of this edition of the Copa America, with one win and three draws at half-time. All three goals once morest were conceded in the second half.
• In regulation time, under the direction of Jesse Marsch, Canada has accumulated two consecutive draws in the competition and, if they win once morest Argentina, they would become the fourth team to win more than one match in their debut in the Copa América, following in the footsteps of Uruguay (2 in 1916), Mexico (2 in 1993) and Honduras (3 in 2001).
• Maxime Crépeau has become a key figure for Canada thanks to his dazzling performances. In addition to making key saves during the match once morest Venezuela, the goalkeeper saved two penalties in the shootout, ensuring his team’s qualification to the semi-finals. In the group stage, Crépeau led the team in saves with 15.

With information from DSports and Data Factory.

Lionel Messi and Alphonse Davies duel tonight to seek their place in the 2024 Copa América final.

Canada advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Venezuela in an electrifying match that ended in penalties.

Uruguay beat Brazil on penalties and advance to the semifinals of the 2024 Copa América