Seeking to win an unprecedented 16th Copa America title, defending champions Argentina lock horns with Colombia in the final of this summer's tournament at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida on Sunday.
This eagerly-anticipated contest represents the first time these two nations have met in the showpiece event, with Argentina preparing for a record 30th appearance in the final as Colombia gear up for just their third.
Match preview
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After advancing from the quarter-finals with a nervy penalty-shootout triumph over Ecuador, Argentina secured a 2-0 victory over Copa America debutants Canada in the semi-finals on Wednesday, extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 10 matches in the process.
Julian Alvarez's first-half opener was followed by a record-breaking second-half strike from Argentine icon Lionel Messi, who has overtaken Iran's Ali Daei to become the second-highest male goalscorer in international football history with 109 goals.
Head coach Lionel Scaloni has insisted that Argentina's course to the Copa America final has been no "bed of roses" as many predicted, and he has heaped praise on his players for overcoming "extremely tough" challenges en route to reaching a third successive major tournament final.
Ranked first in the world by FIFA, Argentina have had plenty of success during their time in the States and have still not lost a major tournament knockout fixture in regulation time on American soil since they were beaten by Romania at the 1994 World Cup.
Now just one victory away from an outright record 16th Copa America title - currently level on 15 with Uruguay - Argentina will have few issues motivating themselves for Monday's final, which will be Angel Di Maria's 145th and last match for the national team before he retires - Messi plans to continue playing beyond this summer's tournament, though.
La Albiceleste will be confident of success against Colombia as they have won 26 of their previous 43 meetings in all competitions, including a penalty-shootout victory in the 2021 Copa America semi-finals, but they will be wary of the exceptional run of form put together by Los Cafeteros heading into the showpiece.
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Indeed, since Colombia lost 1-0 to Argentina in World Cup qualifying in February 2022, they have set a new record for their longest-ever sequence without defeat, with Thursday's semi-final triumph over Uruguay extending their impressive unbeaten run to 28 matches (W22 D6) in all tournaments.
Jefferson Lerma headed Colombia into a 39th-minute lead before Crystal Palace teammate Daniel Munoz was sent off in first-half stoppage time. Despite that, Los Cafeteros valiantly quelled the threat of Uruguay and held on to claim a slender 1-0 victory in North Carolina.
Buenos Aires-born Nestor Lorenzo, who is yet to taste defeat as Colombia head coach since his appointment in July 2022, believes his side were rewarded for their bravery in the win over Uruguay in a contest that was marred by unsavoury scenes at full time, as Uruguayan players were involved in a mass brawl with supporters in the stands.
Ranked 12th in the world by FIFA, Colombia have reached the final four in three of the last four Copa America tournaments, but after falling short in 2016 and 2021 - finishing third on both occasions - Los Cafeteros are now preparing for their first Copa America final since they were crowned champions for the very first time back in 2001 on home soil.
Although Colombia are understandably in high spirits thanks to their superb unbeaten run, Lorenzo's men will enter Monday's showpiece event as underdogs, as they have only beaten Argentina three times in 21 meetings this century, including their most recent victory (2-0) in the group stage of the 2019 Copa America.
Team News
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Argentina have no injury or suspension concerns and Scaloni could name an unchanged starting lineup for the final, with a back four of Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martinez and Nicolas Tagliafico set to remain intact.
Giovani Lo Celso and Exequiel Palacios will both be pushing to start in centre-midfield, but Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo De Paul are expected to retain their places in the first XI, while Angel Di Maria is set to have his last dance on the international stage on the right flank.
Lionel Messi, who overcame a leg injury to play the full 90 minutes against Canada, will start in attack with Julian Alvarez, meaning that Golden Boot-chasing Lautaro Martinez - who has scored a tournament-high four goals - is set to begin as a substitute once again.
As for Colombia, Daniel Munoz is ruled out through suspension following his dismissal in the semi-finals, so 58-cap Santiago Arias is set to start at right-back, joining Davinson Sanchez, Carlos Cuesta and Johan Mojica in a four-man defence.
Colombia captain James Rodriguez, who has registered a Copa America record six assists in five games at this summer's tournament, is set to continue in the number 10 role, with Liverpool's Luis Diaz and Fluminense's Jhon Arias occupying the flanks.
Jhon Cordoba has been preferred to start up front ahead of Aston Villa's Jhon Duran and former Eintracht Frankfurt man Rafael Santos Borre in each of the last four matches, in which he has chipped in with two goals and two assists, and the Krasnodar striker is in line to retain his spot in the first XI for the final.
Argentina possible starting lineup:
E. Martinez; Molina, Romero, Li. Martinez, Tagliafico; Di Maria, De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister; Messi, Alvarez
Colombia possible starting lineup:
Vargas; S. Arias, Sanchez, Cuesta, Mojica; Rios, Lerma; J. Arias, Rodriguez, Diaz; Cordoba
What have the managers said?
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Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni
"It is a final and every final has its nuances," Scaloli told reporters. "We will try to play it and win it. Every team that goes to a final knows the flavour of it and what's at stake."
On Di Maria, Scaloni said: "We hope that everything goes well and that Angel can retire in the best possible way. Even though we know it will be his last game, we will always decide first what is best for the team. If he has to play, it's because he has to play. If we decide not to play him, it's because we think differently."
Discussing the violent scenes after Colombia's win over Uruguay, Scaloni added: "The final game should be a party centred around the joy of playing to winning a title. Those images (from the brawl) were very ugly and sad.
"Anybody who was in that situation would have reacted the same way, seeing your family members, wives, kids, mothers, in danger. We ask our players to be good role models, but when they see their family in that situation, it is natural to react the way those young men did.
"I hope nothing like that happens [in the final], from the bottom of my heart. May the fans of Colombia and Argentina enjoy this event."
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Colombia boss Nestor Lorenzo
"We need to be the best Colombia, the best version, to beat Argentina, the champions of everything," Lorenzo said at a pre-match press conference.
"To win against Argentina we have to be very well prepared, because they are the champions, it will be a very demanding match."
"Every day overcoming an obstacle means you grow and we have had several games with these types of situations that made us reinvent ourselves in the game and the team reacted," Lorenzo added.
"We are in a very good moment, I think the team still has room for improvement and we hope to have a great performance tomorrow and take a step forward in that sense as well."
We say: Argentina 2-1 Colombia
Argentina supporters will be pleased to know that Opta's supercomputer has given Scaloni's side a 62.9% chance of retaining their Copa America title this weekend, but coming out on top against a resilient Colombia outfit, who have not lost in any competition for over two years, will be no mean feat.
Having said that, the reigning champions, boasting plenty of big-game experience, should prevail, especially if they can find a way to stop in-form Rodriguez from pulling the strings and have their own magician in Messi stepping up for the showpiece.
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Oliver Thomas
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