Lionel Messi, the legendary Argentine player, sat on the bench during the victory over Peru (2-0) in the third round of the group stage of the Copa America 2024. The Argentine star was suffering from an injury before the match, leading the coaching staff to decide not to utilize him, in order to prepare him in the best possible way for the knockout stage of the tournament. Messi was unable to make his scoring mark in the group stage, having participated in the first two matches against Canada and Chile without scoring.
According to ESPN, both Messi and his rival Cristiano Ronaldo, the captain of Portugal, failed to score any goals in the group stage of an international tournament for the first time in history during their football careers. Ronaldo also didn't perform any better than Messi, as he failed to score in all three matches for his national team during the group stage of the Euro Championship against Turkey, Georgia, and the Czech Republic.
