The Argentinean footballer took Augusto Fernandez's spot in the team's lineup after one hour of playing time, and took advantage of some poor defending by Panama.

Messi is back with Argentina, and he made his presence felt immediately.

The talented Argentinean footballer came on after 61 minutes to play against Panama, and he gave fans their money's worth with a scintillating brace in just a matter of 16 minutes. 

"La Pulga" scored his first goal thanks to a failed clearance by Panama's defense. As the ball bounced back from Gonzalo Higuaín's face, Barcelona's playmaker took the ball and put it past Jaime Penedo to score La Albiceleste's second goal of the evening.

Minutes later, Messi scored his second goal of the tournament with an impressive free kick. Hardly putting up an effort, the Argentine ace sent the ball into the top left hand corner of Penedo's net, giving fans something to talk about and confirming Argentina's spot in the quarter-final stage.

If that wasn't enough, Messi scored his third goal of the day by dribbling inside Panama's box and sending the ball once again to the back of the net.

Before this game, Messi had only scored three goals in 16 Copa América games. He only needed 25 minutes to match that tally.

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

Argentina 5 - 0 Panama

June 10, 2016 9:30pmSoldier Field (Chicago, Illinois)

This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.

Live TV coverage and streaming in United States

FOX Network
fuboTV
TUDN USA
Univision USA
UniMás
Futbol de Primera Radio

Follow the game on-the-go

Download our iOS and Android apps to follow on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.

Live Soccer TV App for iOS Live Soccer TV App for Android