57′ Brazil have responded well since the restart and are flooding men forward into the final third. The Albiceleste need to remain resolute under pressure.
56′ Neymar goes down in the box, but the referee does not have a decision to make as an offside against Renan Lodi earlier in the move hands Argentine a free-kick.
55′ SAVE! Emi Martinez denies Richarlison with a solid stop. Neymar plays the forward into acres of space in the right-inside channel, but he takes a poor first touch. He hammers an effort towards goal with his second, but Martinez holds firm to make the save before Acuna draws a foul to ease the pressure.
54′ Paredes is withdrawn from the middle of the park by Scaloni and is replaced by Rodriguez.
52′ DISALLOWED GOAL! Richarlison fires the ball into the net from close range, but the flag goes up for offside. Paqueta releases the forward in the right-inside channel and he attempts an offload towards Firmino. Otamendi blocks the cross, but Richarlison turns home the rebound. The celebrations of the Selecao are cut short though by a late offside flag against the Everton man.
51′ Lo Celso wipes out Neymar on the charge in the middle of the park and goes into the book.
50′ BLOCK! Messi drops his shoulder on the right flank and cuts inside. He offloads to Di Maria in the box, who takes a touch before firing at goal, but his effort is charged down by Thiago Silva.
48′ Richarlison makes progress down the right and goes down under pressure from Acuna. However, the referee points only for a goal-kick to the Albiceleste.
46′ We’re back under way at the Marcana.
46′ Tite makes an attacking change at the break. Firmino enters the action to replace Fred, who had been booked in the first half. Firmino will operate as Brazil’s spearhead.
Lionel Scaloni’s men have been solid at the back and have nullified the threat of Neymar so far in the contest. The second half will be a test of their resolve and their composure given their wait for a major international title.
Argentina hold a 1-0 lead over Brazil at the break in the Copa America final at the Maracana. Angel Di Maria fired his team in front after chasing a long ball over the top from Rodrigo de Paul before lifting his effort over Ederson. The Selecao have been quiet in the final third and will need to find their form to retain their crown and deny the Albiceleste their first major final win since 1993.
45′ + 1′ HALF-TIME: ARGENTINA 1-0 BRAZIL
45′ + 1′ Messi and Lo Celso attempt to combine with a one-two in the Brazil box. Marquinhos does well to track the run of Messi and guide the ball back into the arms of Ederson.
45′ There will be one minute of added time.
44′ WIDE! Richarlison attacks the resulting corner from Neymar’s delivery, but his effort travels away from yellow and Argentina shirts and behind for a goal-kick.
43′ Richarlison sends a sublime cross in from the right flank for Paqueta to attack, but the midfielder fails to make contact with a diving header before Montiel sends the ball behind for a corner.
42′ SAVE! Everton turns inside from the left flank and finds half-a-yard for a strike. However, three Albicelete defenders converge to take the pace off his shot and allow Emi Martinez to make an easy claim.
42′ Neymar tries to break down the right flank, but Romero tracks his progress all the way and diverts the ball out for a throw-in with a fine challenge.
41′ Richarlison gets back to thwart Acuna down the left flank and then wins a free-kick amid niggly challenges from the full-back.
41′ Acuna is pulled back by Paqueta in the Brazil half, earning Argentina a free-kick in a useful position.
38′ Neymar tries to chip a throughball forward for Richarlison’s run in the left-inside channel, but Montiel covers and heads back to Emi Martinez.
37′ Di Maria tries to break behind Renan Lodi once again, but he pulls up after failing to control the ball. He limps off the field and requires treatment on his ankle.
34′ BLOCK! Neymar lines up the resulting free-kick, but he can only hammer his effort straight into the Argentina wall.
33′ Paredes brings down Neymar on the charge and goes into the book. Brazil have a dangerous free-kick 25 yards from goal.
32′ WIDE! Messi has a run at the Brazil defence and weaves his way past Marquinhos on the edge of the box. He goes for a low strike towards the bottom-left corner that travels just wide of the post.
30′ Neymar has been quiet in the opening 30 minutes of the contest. The Albiceleste have done a solid quelling the threat of the forward thus far.
29′ BLOCK! Argentina move the ball from right to left and back with precision. Di Maria runs at the Brazil defence as he cuts in from the right flank. He hammers a left-footed strike towards goal, but his effort is blocked by Thiago Silva and the rebound runs away from Lautaro Martinez before Marquinhos clears.
26′ Casemiro tries to combine with Paqueta in the final third, but his effort from 20 yards travels straight into the arms of Emi Martinez.
24′ Di María is the first Argentina player to score in a Copa America final since Cesar Delgado in 2004.
22′ De Paul angles a sublime ball over the top for Di Maria to collect and score with a sublime finish.
22′ GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! DI MARIA PUTS ARGENTINA AHEAD!!! 1-0!!!! Di Maria latches on to a ball over the top and capitalises on a mistake from Renan Lodi before lobbing Ederson to find the back of the net. De Paul lifts a sublime pass over the Brazil defence and Renan Lodi fails to make the interception with an outstretched boot. Di Maria latches on to the ball and takes a good first touch before lifting his effort over the Brazil keeper.
20′ BLOCK! Neymar nods the ball back to Richarlison on the charge, but the forward sees his effort on the half-volley blocked by Romero.
18′ Argentina work together a series of passes, but Fred wins the ball with a well-timed challenge to quell the attack down the right flank.
16′ Neither team has been able to get their foot on the ball and attempt to build phases of possession. It’s not a classic out there at the moment.
14′ Casemiro bundles over Montiel and the referee awards a free-kick to Argentina. It has been a scrappy start to the contest to say the least.
13′ BLOCK! Richarlison nods an offload back to Neymar in the box, but the striker sees his effort on the half-volley blocked by Otamendi.
12′ Paqueta tries to release Renan Lodi down the left flank. Romero gets across to make the interception, but gets clattered by Renan Lodi after the fact.
10′ Richarlison tries to put the pressure on De Paul to attempt to win possession in the final third, but he fouls the Argentina midfielder.
8′ Both sides are putting in heavy challenges in the early stages of the game. The referee will have his work cut out tonight.
6′ Acuna tries to press down the left flank, but he fouls Danilo as he tries to reach an offload on the byline.
5′ The Albiceleste get their foot on the ball in the early stages to press at Brazil’s backline, but are yet to make any meaningful penetration in the final third.
3′ Fred catches Montiel with a late challenge and goes into the book.
1′ We’re under way at the Maracana.
In the 111 matches between the two sides, Brazil are edging the head-to-head duel winning 46 of the contests compared to Argentina’s 40.
Brazil are unchanged from their win over Peru in their semi-final clash. Neymar leads the line for the Selecao supported by Everton, Richarlison and Paqueta. Marquinhos and Thiago Silva will draw on their experience to attempt to thwart Messi at the back.
Scaloni has made five changes to his side that advanced to the final in their shootout win over Colombia. Montiel, Romero and Acuna slot into the backline to replace Pezzella, Molina and Tagliafico. Paredes comes into the side in the middle of the park, while Di Maria replaces Gonzalez in the final third.
BRAZIL SUBS: Alisson, Alex Sandro, Everton Ribeiro, Weverton, Emerson, Eder Militao, Fabinho, Vinicius Junior, Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Barbosa, Leo Ortiz, Douglas Luiz.
BRAZIL (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Renan Lodi; Casemiro, Fred; Richarlison, Lucas Paqueta, Everton; Neymar.
ARGENTINA SUBS: Franco Armani, Nicolas Tagliafico, German Pezzella, Sergio Aguero, Agustin Marchesin, Exequiel Palacios, Nicolas Gonzalez, Guido Rodriguez, Angel Correa, Alejandro Gomez, Lisandro Martinez, Nahuel Molina.
ARGENTINA (4-3-3): Emiliano Martinez; Gonzalo Montiel, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Acuna; Rodrigo de Paul, Leandro Paredes, Giovani Lo Celso; Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez, Angel Di Maria.
Brazil are chasing their eighth Copa America crown and to successfully defend their title won in the 2019 competition. The Selecao defeated Peru 3-1 in a routine victory in 2019, but know the Albicelete will provide a tough test of their mettle. Tite’s side overcame Peru in th semi-finals courtesy of a strike from Lucas Paqueta. They have been solid in the knockout stages and will be determined to see off Messi and company tonight.
Argentina are aiming to win the Copa America for the first time since 1993 and to end a dismal run of failures in the final. The Albiceleste have qualified for the final four times since their last triumph, but have ultimately failed on the grand stage. Lionel Messi has the chance to win a first major crown at international level after playing a starring role in the tournament to date. It will not be easy as Lionel Scaloni’s men had to go through the drama of a penalty shootout to reach the final, narrowly seeing off Colombia in a shootout. They need a flawless performance tonight to overcome Brazil.
Good evening and welcome to the live commentary of the Copa America final between Argentina and Brazil at the Maracana.
60′ Montiel does well down the right flank to clear the danger amid the advancing run of Renan Lodi. He wins a throw-in for his team to allow the Albiceleste to take the pace out of the game.