Records created by Lionel Messi in Copa America 2021

Bengaluru, July 12: The dream final between arch-rivals Brazil and Argentina at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro finally ended in Lionel Messi's favour as the Argentine skipper helped his side win their first trophy in 28 years with a 1-0 victory.

It was his tenth major tournament in Argentina colours and the 34-year-old finally had the luck to end his international title drought. Although, the Barcelona legend was nowhere near his best in the final game he was in imperious form throughout the tournament. His numbers validate the point as he netted four goals and assisted five times which was 75% of Argentina’s total goals scored.

Winning both the best player and the top scorer awards, here are a few records that were broken by the little magician on the way to Argentina’s fifteenth Copa America victory:

1. Most assists in a single edition of the Copa America

With his fifth assist of the tournament which came in Argentina's penalty-shootout win over Colombia, Messi recorded the most assists in a single edition of the Copa.

2. First Argentine to feature at six Copa Americas

Messi made his Copa debut in the year 2007 and the latest edition is his sixth. It is most by any player in Argentine history.

3. Joint Most appearances in Copa America history

Across six different editions of Copa America, he has featured in 34 games. Equaling the record of Chile's Sergio Livingstone (34) who has played the most games by any player in Copa America history.

4. Most appearances for Argentina

At the beginning of the competition, Messi had 144 international caps to his name, second-most behind Javier Mascherano (147). But after Argentina's final group stage match against Bolivia, he became the most-capped Argentine player of all time. He currently has 151 international caps- the highest in Argentina's history.