Argentina made it three wins from three in Group A at the Copa America, with Lautaro Martínez scoring twice to help the reigning champions top the table. Check out the best facts, stats and live Opta data with our Argentina vs Peru stats page.
Lautaro Martínez’s fine goalscoring form continued as he sealed top spot for Argentina in Group A, with a 2-0 victory over Peru, who were eliminated from the Copa America.
With Lionel Messi out due to a groin injury, the forward stepped up, scoring at the start and end of the second half to ease any nerves after a slow first 45 minutes at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Leandro Paredes’ miss from the penalty spot did not prove costly as Peru failed to threaten in what was a must-win game.
Argentina will face the runner-up of Group B in their quarter-final, while Canada take second place in the group after their 0-0 draw with Chile, and Peru make an early exit.
With a place in the quarter-finals already secured, Argentina made a slow start to the game – Alejandro Garnacho’s deflected curler was their only chance in the opening 25 minutes.
Pedro Gallese was required to keep things level shortly after, getting a strong hand to stop Paredes’ whipped free-kick from heading into the top-left corner.
Giovani Lo Celso was then picked out on the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time, but Gallese parried his first-time shot before Garnacho fired the rebound just over the crossbar.
The half-time team talk worked wonders for Argentina, as Ángel Di María cut Peru’s defence wide open by picking out Martínez, who deftly chipped the opener over Gallese just two minutes into the second half.
Nicolás Tagliafico thought he had doubled their tally moments later, poking over the line from a corner, but it was disallowed as Lo Celso was blocking the goalkeeper’s view from an offside position.
Argentina had another chance to double their lead in the 69th minute, with Jesús Castillo penalised for a handball as he slid in to block Paredes’ cross in the box, but the midfielder could not profit, rattling the inside of the post with a powerful spot-kick.
In an almost carbon copy of his first goal, Martínez raced in behind once again in the 86th minute and lifted a lovely effort over Gallese, who could not get a hand to it.
Franco Zanelatto almost salvaged some pride for La Blanquirroja in the dying moments, but his thumping header bounced off the near post and, agonisingly, along the face of goal.
Martínez Retains Golden Touch
Though Argentina were already into the quarter-finals with a game to spare, it felt like they might not be at their best without talisman Messi and manager Lionel Scaloni, who was serving a touchline ban.
However, Martínez has stepped up in this tournament, scoring in all three of their group games as he leads the race for the Golden Boot with four goals to his name.
His first two strikes both came off the bench, with his late winner sending the Albiceleste into the knockout stages against Chile, and he made the most of his first start in the tournament with an early goal in the second half.
It is just the third time this century that Argentina have won all three of their group games – the last two times (2007, 2016) they finished as runners-up, but Scaloni will be hoping they can go one better and defend their title this time around.
Peru Go out With a Whimper
This year’s Copa America has been a tournament to forget for Peru, who go out of the tournament with just one point to their name – it is the first time they have been eliminated without a single victory since 1995.
La Blanquirroja needed a win to have a chance of snagging second spot, with hope that Canada and Chile played out a draw in the other Group A game.
However, they managed just six shots in the game, creating an expected goals total of 0.14, and finish the tournament with a meagre tally of 22 efforts from their three matches without hitting the back of the net.
It was always going to be a tough ask to get a win against the defending champions, even with all of their changes, but Peru’s starting front three of Bryan Reyna, Paolo Guerrero and Edison Flores not managing a single shot did not make matters easier.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Argentina vs Peru stats from their Copa America 2024 Group A clash at Hard Rock Stadium.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own post-match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Argentina vs Peru: Post-Match Facts
- Since his debut in the 2019 CONMEBOL Copa América, Lautaro Martínez is the tournament’s top scorer with nine goals (two in 2019, three in 2021, four in 2024), four more than Lionel Messi and Luis Díaz (5 each).
- Argentina has won their first three matches of a CONMEBOL Copa América tournament on 18 occasions. However, this is only the third time they’ve done so in their last 12 participations (2007 and 2016).
- Argentina averaged 74% possession against Peru, matching their second-highest possession rate in the CONMEBOL Copa América since at least the 2011 edition, when this type of data began being recorded.
- Argentina concluded their participation in the group stage of the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa América with three wins in three matches, without conceding any goals while scoring all their goals after half-time.
- Lautaro Martínez, despite not starting in two out of the three matches, finished the group stage as the Argentine player with the most shots (9) and the most goals (four out of Argentina’s five).
- Argentina recorded their 13th victory against Peru in the CONMEBOL Copa América in 18 meetings (2 draws, 3 losses). This was the fifth time that the Albiceleste kept a clean sheet.
- Out of the last 16 penalties taken against Peru in the CONMEBOL Copa América (including shootouts), seven were not converted (44%).
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