Natural Stone Steps

Lionel Messi has already impressed stateside as of late in his stint playing for Inter Miami in MLS. The Argentine superstar will now have another challenge on U.S. soil this summer, as he will look to lead his Argentina side in the Copa América and repeat as champions, following their win in 2021.

Messi & Co. began the tournament against Canada in Atlanta on June 20, winning 2-0. They followed that up with a gritty 1-0 win over Chile in New Jersey. Up next, Peru awaits on June 29. 

Throughout Copa America, Messi will also look to tick off a slew of individual accomplishments. Check in here as ESPN tracks the milestones Messi can reach and the many records that Messi can break during the tournament. 

When Messi took to the pitch for Argentina's first game of the Copa América against Canada at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, he became the player with the most matches played in the tournament with 35 games to his name, surpassing Chile's Sergio Livingstone, who played 34 games.

Messi has officially become the first Argentine player to play in seven different editions of the Copa América, having played in every edition since the 2007 tournament held in Venezuela. With his seventh appearance in the tournament, he also ties Héctor Scarone, Miton Melgar and Carlos Borja for third most all-time. Only Angel Romano and Alex Aguinaga have played the tournament more times (eight each).

Messi has 13 goals in Copa América competition, where he is currently ranked fourth all time as the competition's top goal scorer. He needs five more to become the all-time top goal scorer, surpassing his compatriot Norberto Méndez and Brazil's Zizinho, who have 17 goals in the competition's history.

Having won the best player of the tournament twice (Chile 2015 and Brazil 2021), he could be the first player to win the award on three different occasions as well as become the first player to win in consecutive tournaments.

While Messi, with 108 international goals, would need to have a pretty spectacular Copa to reach Cristiano Ronaldo's record of 130 men's international goals, he is quickly closing in on reaching No. 2. With his next goal, Messi will pull level with Iran's now-retired Ali Daei, whose tally stands at 109 international goals. With two goals Messi will move behind Ronaldo. 

Finally, if he scores a hat trick in a match, he'll join a list of 10 players to have scored at least two hat tricks in the Copa América.