“Like he stole Ballon d'Or”, “Shame on him” - Fans claim Lionel Messi took shine away from Argentina teammate in 2024 Copa America semi-final win

Fans have lashed out at eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi for snatching a goal out of the grasp of his Argentina teammate Enzo Fernandez. La Albiceleste were the better side in their Copa America semi-final win over Canada, beating Les Rouges 2-0.

While their opponents looked to threaten at times, Argentina never let go of their domination on the game. A 22-minute lead opened the game up, as Julian Alvarez found the net, thanks to a perfect pass from Rodrigo De Paul.

The second goal came from Lionel Messi, but it was notably an interesting one from very close range. The Argentine icon had run into the last line of defense, and happened to be in the perfect spot to meet a shot from Enzo Fernandez.

The effort from the Chelsea midfielder looked goal-bound, but Messi had the final touch, which upset a number of fans. They took to social media to slam the legendary Argentine:

"Enzo Fernandez having a really good game, this role - similar to the World Cup - suits him much better than the roles in previous games. A strong performance awarded with an assist to Lionel Messi," a fan posted.

"Messi stealing goals like he stole Ballon d'Or," a fan claimed.

"They have to take his goal and give it to your finished GOAT 😭," another fan mocked.

"He stole the goal it alright to admit," another argued.

"Messi stole his well deserved goal, shame on him," a fan mocked.

"And if Messi wasn’t there, he would have a goal," another fan observed.

"Messi stole Fernandez goal," another said simply.

Others said:

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When journalist slammed Lionel Messi stating that he did not deserve 8th Ballon d'Or win over Cristiano Ronaldo

While Cristiano Ronaldo has five Ballon d'Or awards - not a mean feat by any standard, Lionel Messi has managed to rack up eight. This has led to claims that the Argentine legend stole awards from his teammates who were more deserving winners.

After Messi won award number eight, journalist Tomas Roncero posted a video In October last year where he slammed the forward for having any more than five. The journalist said (via The Sun):

"Messi has eight Ballon d'Ors, he should have had five. He has [Andres] Iniesta/Xavi's Ballon d'Or, [Robert] Lewandowski's who won six trophies in one season and [Erling] Haaland's who was the top scorer."

When the video was posted online, Cristiano Ronaldo had also reacted in the comment section with laughing emojis as a response. While it is uncertain what the Portugal forward might have meant, it seemed as though he agreed with the Ballon d'Or award count from Roncero.