Lionel Messi is finally a champion with Argentina. In his fifth major final in his 10th major tournament, Messi led La Albiceleste to a major international trophy, beating Brazil 1-0 in the 2021 Copa América final on Saturday night at the Maracanã. 

Maybe that will shut the naysayers up after years of hearing “yeah, but” when discussing Messi as the greatest player of all time.

And you could see what it meant to him, his teammates and his country. 

¡Maracanazo consumado!

El pasado 6 de julio, Guatemala le decía adiós a la Copa Oro. Los chapines eran eliminados en el repechaje de la Copa Oro, por Guadalupe, en los lanzamientos penales. La derrota pegaba fuerte y hasta significó el despido del técnico Amarini Villatoro.

Este sábado, sin embargo, la Bicolor agarraba un avión rumbo a Estados Unidos para meterse al torneo como invitado de emergencia.

New Zealand’s Olympic soccer preparations were handed a blow a couple weeks before the tournament kicks off, and Football Ferns coach Tom Sermanni is not happy about it. Team captain Ali Riley and defensive star Abby Erceg were not allowed to join up with their national team until after this weekend’s NWSL games, leading Sermanni to excoriate the Orlando Pride and N.C. Courage.

LONDON — Britain's Queen Elizabeth has sent a message to the England soccer manager to wish the team luck ahead of the country's most anticipated game since the 1966 World Cup final.

England are due to play Italy on Sunday in the Euro 2020 final at London's Wembley Stadium, prompting excitement across the country, with beer sales soaring and special permission for children to start school late on Monday.

Friday evening the day before the 2021 Gold Cup was set to begin, Concacaf sent out a nonchalant email to media with the subject line: “Concacaf Statement — Curaçao Delegation at Gold Cup.” That’s an understated way to announce a team has been expelled from the tournament a day before it was scheduled to play. 

SAO PAULO — A "considerable number" of guests specially invited to watch the Copa America final between Brazil and Argentina have been faking false COVID-19 tests to ensure their entry, organisers the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) said on Saturday.

The match between the two arch rivals is due to kick off on Saturday night at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Comunicado CONMEBOL

Entre todo el humo y el magnetismo que producen Lionel Messi y Neymar, una de las grandes figuras que emerge de la Copa América 2021 es el colombiano Luis Díaz. El delantero de origen wayuu demostró un ritmo endemoniado, magia incombustible y terminó marcando cuatro goles durante el torneo: uno a Brasil, uno a Argentina y dos a Perú. Estos últimos le valieron a Colombia el tercer lugar de la competencia y un premio para su federación de cuatro millones de dólares.

Bayern Munich speedster Alphonso Davies will miss the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup due to an ankle injury, Canada Soccer said on Friday.

Davies, who suffered the injury during training earlier this week, has returned to German champions Bayern Munich to begin his recovery ahead of the new Bundesliga season.

Hungary has been ordered to play its next two games behind closed doors after it was sanctioned for discriminatory behavior by fans during European Championship matches in Budapest, European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Friday.

The incidents occurred during Hungary's group-stage matches against Portugal, France and Germany, all hosted at the Puskás Arena.

A Covid-19 outbreak on the eve of the 2021 Gold Cup could see one of the tournament’s dark horses make an early exit. In a since deleted social media post, Curaçao claimed that its squad is experiencing an outbreak of the virus. If the Curacao Covid situation worsens then there will be no Gold Cup for Curaçao.

Curacao dealing with a Covid outbreak in its squad ahead of its Gold Cup opener tomorrow against El Salavdor.