After Colombia sealed a 1-0 victory in the Copa semi-final, Uruguay players climbed into the stands and exchanged blows with opposition fans.
Argentina’s undersecretary for sports Julio Garro was sacked on Thursday after demanding an apology from Lionel Messi for the racist chants during the national team’s celebrations after winning the Copa America.
"[The players] warmed up, cooled down, warmed up again, before the kick-off. Then we had 25 minutes of half-time, strange things for both teams," he said.
"We've had our players head-butted, we've had racial slurs thrown at our players live and through social media... We've been treated like second-class citizens."
Messi's 109th goal for Argentina also saw him surpass Iran's Ali Daei to take sole possession of second place on the all-time international scoring charts. Messi trails only Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored 130 goals for Portugal.
Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi scored the goals as Argentina advanced to Sunday's final in Miami where they will face either Colombia or Uruguay.
The Copa America is down to the final four with a pair of fascinating semifinals and favourites Argentina hoping they can win their third straight major title.
Coming up against Uruguay, the standout performers of this Copa America so far, Brazil, missing their key player Vinicius Jr, will have a lot to fix in this heavyweight quarterfinal clash at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.
Team USA, who suffered an upset 2-1 defeat to Panama last Thursday, went into Monday's final Group C game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City needing to match or better Panama's result against Bolivia to advance.
Brazil open their 2024 Copa America campaign against Costa Rica on Monday in Los Angeles with a whole new look almost from top to bottom, with Real Madrid's rising star Vinicius Jr leading a group that were waiting for an opportunity for a fresh start.
Brazil's teenage prodigy Endrick will be hoping to make his first appearance for the national team at a major tournament when his country take on Costa Rica in their Copa America opener on Monday.
This year's tournament brings together 10 South American teams and six invited nations from the North and Central America and the Caribbean Confederation (CONCACAF) in the second Copa hosted by the United States.
Chile had goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to thank for securing a 0-0 draw against Peru in their Copa America opener on Friday in a result that left Group A wide open.
Messi's appearances have been spread across seven editions of the Copa, starting with the 2007 tournament in Venezuela.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni announced the 26-player squad for the 2024 Copa America on Saturday, with Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria headlining the team.
Di Maria, named as captain for the game with Lionel Messi on the bench, bagged his 31st international goal in the 40th minute of an entertaining clash at Soldier Field.
Coach Dorival Junior, who assumed the Brazil job in January, decided to rest first-choice players such as Vinicius Jr, Endrick, Rodrygo and Raphinha. However, the alternative line-up paid off as they took an early lead when Andreas Pereira scored from a Savio pass in the 5th.
There were two hattrick heroes -- Uruguay’s Darwin Nunez and Spain’s Mikel Oyarzabal -- and one very familiar face in Kylian Mbappe who propelled France to win on Wednesday’s international friendlies.
AS Roma forward Paulo Dybala said it was a big blow to be left out of Argentina's Copa America squad and that he had been confident of selection for the tournament in the United States.
