Argentina beats Chile to seal Copa América quarterfinal place

Argentina have secured a spot in the 2024 Copa America quarter-final after an hard fought victory over Chile on Tuesday night.

Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martínez scored from a rebound in the 88th minute, giving defending champions Argentina that guaranteed spot in the Copa América quarterfinals.

Messi’s corner kick led to a shot blocked by goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, and Martínez scored his second goal of the tournament on Argentina’s 21st shot of the match.

“These matches are always like this, we have to continue in the same way, treating the matches in this way, as they are all going to be complicated,” Martinez told TyC Sports. “Everything was tight, they set up lines of five at times.

“But we are happy that at the end of the day we ended up taking the three points, which is what we wanted to start with.”

Players stood and waited for three minutes while the goal, Martínez’s 26th for the national team, was confirmed in a video review.

Argentina leads Group A with six points, followed by Canada with three and Chile and Peru with one each. The Albiceleste finishes the first round against Peru at Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday, while Canada meets Chile in Orlando, Florida.

The match was watched by a sold out crowd of 81,106 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, site of the 2026 World Cup final.