Right, so it all ends at 1-1 at the Estadio Nilton Santos, with Argentina and Chile sharing the spoils. If you are in the mood for more Copa America action, Paraguay and Bolivia face each other in about an hour's time. I'm off to bed to get the few hours of sleep I can muster, though, but before I retire for the night, I would like to thank all my readers for catching all the action on Sportskeeda today.
Until next time, this is Aditya Hosangadi bidding you farewell! Cheers, and have a good night (or morning)!

Argentina, on the other hand, have only themselves to blame after a decidedly underwhelming second-half performance. Lionel Messi might be the most magical footballer on the planet but his wizardry will only come to fruition if La Albiceleste stop shooting themselves in the foot.

There are positives from this game for Scaloni, with De Paul and Lo Celso laying down a marker and establishing their places in the team. Today's team selection does raise a few questions, however, and the likes of Di Maria, Lisandro Martinez, and Marcos Acuna will be knocking on their manager's door in the coming days.

Argentina now face a daunting task against Uruguay on Friday and can ill afford to drop more points this week.

The game saw an astonishing 45 fouls between the two teams and produced innumerable stoppages as both sides were in the mood for a tussle. Chile will be the happier side at the moment and will be well-prepared for their game against Bolivia later this week.

The second half panned out differently, however, after a penalty against the run of play changed the complexion of the game. Chile were boosted by Eduardo Vargas' equaliser and gave a good account of themselves in the final half-hour. 

Argentina will be bitterly disappointed with their inability to keep a lead intact and have squandered what was an excellent opportunity to win three points. La Albiceleste went ahead in the first half after a piece of magic from Lionel Messi and were the dominant team, with De Paul and Lo Celso pulling the strings.

The full-time whistle has gone off after what has been an intriguing contest between Argentina and Chile. The second half was an evenly-matched affair as both sides attempted to seize the initiative in a hard-fought contest.

90 + 8' Corner for Argentina. We're deep into stoppage-time here, this should be the last move of the game.

Final minute of the game. Argentina's last chance..

90 + 5' Chile with a high press in the final stages, but Argentina have the ball back and attempt a counter. La Roja respond with a smart tactical foul.

94 + 1' Argentina pushing forward here but lack a discernible final product. Di Maria concedes a needless foul and La Albiceleste have to start from scratch.

90 + 3' Chile with their last substitution as the impressive Menezes is replaced by Pablo Millan.

90 + 1' Nearly there! Argentina fling a ball into the box and Messi manages to win the header. An Argentina goal looks a certainty but Enzo Roco is on hand with a heroic clearance!

Seven minutes of stoppage-time in Rio.

90' Argentina win a free-kick but it's too far for Messi to replicate his heroics. He looks for Aguero instead and wins a corner.

89' The game has inexplicably slowed down here, Argentina need to pick up the pace. Only a minute to go before stoppage-time, it is now or never.

87' Di Maria! The PSG man unleashes through a crowd of Chile midfielders, but his effort is off target.

86' Argentina make their last change as Nahuel Molina comes on for Gonzalo Montiel.

Chile were smart to take Vidal off there. The midfielder was on the verge of a second booking, and La Roja cannot afford to be reduced to ten men now.

84' Two more changes for Chile, Gary Medel and Arturo Vidal make way for Enzo Roco and Tomas Alarcon.

Argentina visibly desperate for the winner here and will have to be careful. Chile can be dangerous on the counter.

81' Lautaro Martinez comes off and Sergio Aguero on the pitch. Scaloni also decides to introduce Joaquin Correa for Nico Gonzalez.

80' Nico Gonzalez! That should have been the winner for Argentina. Messi plays a beautiful ball on to the head of the winger but his finish is a good five feet above the crossbar.

79' Argentina with half a chance! Messi finds space to play Tagliafico in on the left, but a misunderstanding between the left-back and Lautaro Martinez results in the move breaking down.

76' Chile ring in the changes now with two substitutions, Eduardo Vargas and Carlos Palacios make way for Ben Brererton and Cesar Pinares.

73' Messi's set-piece finds Quarta, but Chile make it difficult for the defender and ultimately clear their lines.

72' Foul by Vidal. The Chilean is walking a very fine line here, and cannot afford to test the referee's patience.

71' Messi! The Argentine picks up the ball at the edge of the penalty area and unleashes a shot, but Bravo is alert and pulls off a good save.

68' Substitutions for Argentina, Angel Di Maria and Ezequiel Palacios are in for Giovani Lo Celso and Leandro Paredes.

67' Stoppage in the game as Palacios is down in his own half. Argentina have the free-kick, but are unable to make the most of it.

De Paul and Messi have not seen much of the ball in the last 15 minutes and Argentina are on the backfoot at the moment. Control is of the essence for La Albiceleste.

62' Yellow card for Lautaro Martinez for a foul in the final third.

Chile seem bouyed by their equaliser and smell blood here. They mount another attack on the left flank and get the cross in but Vidal's header flies straight into Martinez's hands.

60' Lautaro Martinez picks up the ball in the penalty area and snaps powerfully with a volley. The subsequent corner is straight to Claudio Bravo, who happily collects.

Not for the first time this month, Argentina have squandered a well-deserved first-half lead. Can La Albiceleste show some character in this final half-hour?

57' GOAL FOR CHILE! Emi Martinez does brilliantly to save the penalty but Vargas races on to the rebound to push the ball into an open net. Argentina deeply unhappy with something here, will we have another VAR check? No infringements, the goal stands. 1-1!

Arturo Vidal for Chile..

56' PENALTY TO CHILE! The replays don't look good for Tagliafico as La Roja have a huge opportunity here!

VAR check. Crucial moment in the game here as Chile are claiming a penalty. The referee is having a look for himself.

53' VARGAS! Chile with their best chance of the game as the forward races through on goal. Emi Martinez pulls off a save, and Vidal snaps his shot on the follow-up. Was the midfielder fouled there?

51' Paredes concedes a foul on Vidal, Chile have the set-piece. Medel gets close, but La Albiceleste clear their lines. Chile have made a decent start to this half, and will need to make the most of their momentum.

48' A scrappy start to the second half as both sides exchange possession repeatedly. Much like the first half, it feels like this will take a while to settle down.

KICK-OFF!

Argentina from left to right now as Chile come out with some intent.

The second half is nearly underway at the Estadio Nilton Santos. Named after a bonafide Brazilian great, and an Argentine legend finds himself on the scoresheet.

The game has predictably been tenacious and feisty, and Chile have played the role of anti-hero a little too well for their own liking.

The context? Chile have conceded 14 fouls in the first half. That's one foul every three (or so) minutes!

Now that that brief summary is out of the way, let's get to the real highlight of the half. WHAT. A. GOAL.

How many times have we seen him do it? How many times has Claudio Bravo seen him do it, first-hand? And yet, nothing was stopping that strike. Sheer brilliance from Lionel Messi. Argentina will need much more of that to challenge the likes of Brazil and Uruguay this month.

An excellent first-half performance from Argentina as a unit, with Lionel Messi's brilliance the icing on the cake. And that is exactly how it should be if Argentina want to succeed in the long term. Scaloni's charges were visibly superior to their opponents, with De Paul and Lo Celso being particularly impressive in midfield.

Chile started well but have since struggled to make a mark on the game. La Roja have already picked up three yellow cards - both Vidal and Pulgar are on a booking and will have to be very careful in the second half.

HALF TIME: Argentina 1-0 Chile (Lionel Messi 33')

Argentina lead at the break in Rio de Janeiro!

45 + 2' Chile make a foray forward and the ball goes out of play. Argentina win a goal kick, and La Roja are not particularly happy with that decision.

Three additional minutes to the first half.

45' Lautaro Martinez is struggling here as play stops for what feels like the millionth time. The Inter Milan forward has taken a bit of a beating in this half, and not all of it has been legal.

Lionel Messi's stunning free-kick remains the difference between the two teams. The great man has stepped up yet again, will this be his tournament?

42' Stoppage here as there is a VAR check after Argentina's free-kick. A possible handball from Arturo Vidal, but they play on. Chile survive this time!

40' Argentina win another free-kick a fair distance from goal. Messi takes it again, the ball bounces around in the penalty area before Chile win a free-kick of their own to defuse the situation.

38' LAUTARO MARTINEZ! Montiel pushes forward and pounces on a loose ball to pull off a first-time cross. Martinez nearly gets to the end of its but Isla does brilliantly to get in his way. Argentina want more here..

36' Yellow card for Arturo Vidal.
Chile really do need to be careful here. The game has been slipping away from them for a while now, and these bookings will not help. 

33' GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!!!!!!!!! When I said 'this is Leo Messi territory', I really did mean it. The Barcelona man curls a beautiful shot to the top corner, Bravo might have got a hand to that but it was never going to matter. 1-0 to Argentina!

Free-kick for Argentina. This is prime Lionel Messi territory.

32' Yellow card for Erick Pulgar
Argentina find an opening as Emi Martinez finds his namesake with a long ball, and Lautaro cushions it for Lo Celso. Pulgar steps in with an ugly tackle from behind and takes one for the team. Bookings racking up here for Chile.

31' Chile win a free-kick near the halfway line and decide to take it long - really long. It nearly works out with a cushioned header, but Argentina are able to clear.

Messi is now dropping deep to pick up the ball with De Paul drifting wide. Not a particularly good sign for Argentina, but Chile have employed a low block and Messi does love the ball at his feet. Intriguing stuff, but goals might be hard to come by.

27' First chance for Chile! Menezes pushed through the midfield and takes a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but the angle was always against him. Chile will need much more of that.

26' Otamendi tries to get his head to the set-piece, but finds it difficult to get through the crowd of Chile defenders.

25' Yellow card for Mauricio Isla.
Messi with a trademark diagonal ball to Nico Gonzalez, who chips the ball past Isla, the full-back comes back with a vengeance and is nowhere near the ball. Free-kick for Argentina.

Messi and De Paul have linked up well today, and it bodes well for Argentina that a prodigious talent has taken charge of their midfield. Lo Celso has also stepped up so far, but the Albicelestes need to break this deadlock as soon as possible.

22' Chile enjoy a brief spell of possession and attempt an attack, but it falls apart after an offside call. Argentina back with the ball now and already in the final third. 

18' BIG MISS! Lo Celso threads a beautiful pass down the middle to Gonzalez, but Bravo makes himself big and saves fairly easily. Gonzalez has already managed three goal attempts now, and should really have converted that one.

16' Nico Gonzalez at the other end! The winger forces Claudio Bravo into a good save, and nearly gets his goal from the resulting corner. The game's picking up pace now, and Argentina seem closer to the lead.

15' Nearly an own goal! Martinez Quarta would have had his heart in his mouth there. Chile put in a hopeful cross in the penalty area, Quarta's sliced clearance nearly ends up in his own net. Emi Martinez with a save from his own defender there.

14' Messi and Martinez win a corner for Argentina and the former takes it short. Chile clear their lines and launch a counter, Palacios nearly gets on the end of it but La Roja will have to do with a corner of their own.

12' CHANCE! Nico Gonzalez finds space on the left and whips in a cross to the far post. Lautaro Martinez is hunting it down but Maripan does well to put him off. Excellent defending by the Monaco man.

9' Argentina finally see more of the ball and mount an attack immediately through the left flank. De Paul threads a beautiful ball to Tagliafico who chests it down. Messi takes it on the volley but it's a fair distance wide. Not his best shot, but a good sign for the Albicelestes. 

Chile surprisingly dictating terms so far, Argentina have not seen much of the ball. De Paul and Paredes need to take control, and quickly. Lionel Messi might be the best player in the world but starving him of the ball renders him ineffective and that will be Chile's go-to tactic here..

5' Meneses attempts to split Argentina's defence with a long ball to Vargas, but Emi Martinez is alert to the danger. Vargas was deemed offside anyway, so no harm no foul.

4' Otamendi wins the header in Argentina's box and tries to set up a counter, Chile put a stop to it illegally. This is already a fairly tenacious game.

3' Chile keeping the ball well in the opening stages of the game with Erick Pulgar pulling the strings. Argentina have some out with intent but have already conceded a couple of fouls. Chile with the free-kick.. 

KICK-OFF!

Argentina get things started from right to left.

The players observe a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the pandemic in South America.

Less than five minutes from kick-off! We finally get to the start of Argentina's Copa America 2021 campaign. What can Lionel Messi conjure up here against a team that has been the bane of his existence on two occasions in the past?

30 minutes from kick-off!

Argentina have a wealth of options in attack, with both Lautaro Martinez and Lionel Messi starting in this game. Nicolas Gonzalez has also been given an opportunity to start and will likely provide width on the left flank.

Scaloni has several resources at his disposal with the likes of Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria, and Angel Correa all on the bench. Those are some serious super-subs!

Lionel Scaloni has pulled a few surprises with his line-up, with the in-form Cristian Romero dropping to the bench. Emil Martinez starts in goal for his side with Otamendi and Quarta forming Argentina's centre-back partnership.

The midfield is as expected from Argentina with De Paul and Paredes forming the core of Argentina's new control-oriented approach. Lo Celso will be slightly more advanced than his partners-in-crime and will look to link up with Lionel Messi.

With Alexis Sanchez unavailable, Chile have opted to go with Eduardo Vargas and Carlos Palacios as their attacking options. La Roja's midfield general Arturo Vidal will have his work cut out tonight against former teammate Lionel Messi but will be ably supported by Erick Pulgar.

Chile may not be as strong as they were in 2016, but they're perfectly capable of pulling off an upset. Don't write them off just yet.

Chile Substitutes:
Enzo Roco, Gabriel Castellon, Claudio Baeza, Gabriel Arias, Clemente Montes, Tomas Alarcon, Cesar Pinares, Pablo Galdames, Sebastian Vegas, Felipe Mora, Marcelino Nunez, Benjamin Brereton

Argentina Substitutes:
Franco Armani, Angel Correa, Lisandro Martinez, Agustin Marchesin, Nahuel Molina, Guido Rodriguez, German Pezzella, Joaquin Correa, Sergio Aguero, Exequiel Palacios, Angel Di Maria, Marcos Acuna

Chile Official XI (4-4-2):
Claudio Bravo; Eugenio Mena, Guillermo Maripan, Gary Medel, Mauricio Isla; Erick Pulgar, Arturo Vidal, Jean Meneses, Charles Aranguiz; Carlos Palacios, Eduardo Vargas

Argentina Official XI (4-3-3):
Emiliano Martinez; Nicolas Tagliafico, Nicolas Otamendi, Lucas Martinez Quarta, Gonzalo Montiel; Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Giovani Lo Celso; Nicolas Gonzalez, Lionel Messi, Lautaro Martinez

Line-ups are here!

Copa America 2021 so far:

Colombia edged Ecuador to a narrow 1-0 victory after Edwin Cardona found the back of the net minutes before half-time.

Brazil brushed past Venezuela yesterday with a comprehensive performance. The Selecao have been brilliant under Tite and really do look like favourites at the moment. Brazil vs Argentina final, anyone? Maybe we should wait for the Albicelestes to play their cards first.

Argentina have been heavily criticised for being a one-man army in the past and their attack-heavy approach to Copa America's famed tenacity has failed to yield positive results.

Lionel Scaloni seems to have learnt from his predecessors' errors in judgement and has assembled a balanced squad for Copa America 2021. With the likes of Emiliano Martinez, Cristian Romero, and Rodrigo De Paul in the form of their lives, this may very well be Argentina's best chance to win their first major trophy since the turn of the millennium.

Three hours to go for kick-off! While we wait with bated breath, here's Argentina's strongest XI going into this game:

Strongest possible starting XI for Argentina | Copa America 2021

Chile might not be at their best at the moment but underestimating them would be a grave mistake on the Albicelestes' part. La Roja famously defeated Lionel Messi's Argentina in both the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals and will enjoy a nice little share of Schadenfreude if they break Argentine hearts again tonight.

Argentina are only behind Uruguay in terms of success in Copa America and have won an impressive 14 titles. The Albicelestes' last Copa America triumph was nearly three decades ago, in 1993.

Right, so Argentina have revolutionised their squad for Copa America 2021 and it's fair to say that most of us cannot wait to see what's in store for them. There are less than five hours left for the game, so what you can do for now is bide your time with this preview of Argentina's chances going into this encounter.

Argentina vs Chile prediction, preview, team news and more | Copa America 2021

Lionel Messi's record with Barcelona is unquestionable. Scratch that, it is essentially supernatural. Messi is arguably the best player in the history of the sport and has proven his sheer alien nature time and again on the pitch. The one thing that remains conspicuous by its absence, however, is a major trophy with Argentina.

At this point in his career, this particular edition of Copa America and next year's World Cup are probably the only two things running through Messi's footballing brain. Argentina have gone far too long without a trophy for a footballing nation of their stature and it is only fitting that a bonafide deity of the game ends their drought and ends a debate that has raged on for more than a decade.

Argentina were supposed to host the tournament but now find themselves playing in hostile territory. With no fans in the stadium, however, Lionel Scaloni will want his men to focus on the challenge ahead of them after what has been a decidedly controversial build-up to the competition.

Chile face a stern challenge in Copa America 2021 and cannot bank on Alexis Sanchez to bail them out of trouble this time. Argentina, on the other hand, have assembled a well-rounded squad but have a history of letting themselves down on the big stage. 

Will history repeat itself? Or can the Albicelestes finally seize the initiative and lift their first major international trophy in an astonishing 28 years?

Hello, and welcome to Sportskeeda's live coverage of Argentina's first match in Copa America 2021! Lionel Messi's Albicelestes take on Chile in Rio de Janeiro tonight and will want to lay down a marker for the rest of the tournament here with a victory.

I'm Aditya Hosangadi, and I'll be your host for the day as we follow a match that will likely be crucial to Argentina's chances of success in this tournament.