Argentina advances to Copa America quarterfinals, beats Chile 1-0 on Martínez 88th-minute goal

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — After nearly 90 minutes of total domination, Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina advanced to the Copa America quarterfinals after the ball ricocheted in front of the net during a frantic scramble that led to the breakthrough.

Lautaro Martínez scored off the last in a series of rebounds in the 88th minute, lifting the Albiceleste over Chile 1-0 on Tuesday night and into the quarterfinals with a game to spare.

“The ball ended up right at me and I was able to convert it," said Martínez, who scored the second goal in last week's opening 2-0 win over Canada.

Messi started the leadup to the goal with a corner kick that was sent sent toward goal with a glancing header by defender Lisandro Martínez. The ball landed in front of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, where Argentina's Giovani Lo Celso and Chile's Nicolás Fernández were wrestling. Lo Celso kicked the ball off Bravo and it rebounded to Chile's Igor Lichnovsky, who tried to poke it wide.

Lautaro Martínez, who entered in the 73rd, calmly one-timed that rebound into the roof of the net on Argentina's 21st shot. Players stood and waited for three minutes while the goal, Martínez's 26th for the national team, was confirmed in a video review.

“We deserved the win. It was not an easy match," Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said. "We managed to win at the moment least expected.”

Argentina leads Group A with six points, followed by Canada with three, and Chile and Peru with one each. The Albiceleste finish the first round against Peru at Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday, when Canada meets Chile in Orlando, Florida.

Playing a day after his 37th birthday, Messi frequently flaunted his talent to spin around and slalom through defenders before an adoring sellout crowd of 81,106 at MetLife Stadium, site of the 2026 World Cup final. Argentina dominated 22-3 in shots and 11-0 in corner kicks. Chile didn't take its first attempt until the 72nd minute.

Messi came the closest to scoring before Martínez with a 30-yard shot that glanced off the post to Bravo’s left in the 36th minute. Messi had received treatment on the thigh area of his right leg for nearly two minutes after getting kicked by Gabriel Suazo in the 24th.

Nicolás González’s shot from another Messi pass in the 62nd was parried off the crossbar by Bravo.

Argentina outshot Chile 17-0 before Rodrigo Echeverría’s 72nd-minute effort following a turnover was saved by Emiliano Martínez, who blocked the ball while falling after it deflected off Alexis Mac Allister. The goalkeeper then used his right hand to bat another Echeverría shot in the 76th that deflected off a toe of defender Cristian Romero.

"I always have to save one or two every match. And I’m lucky to keep doing it,” Martínez said.

On the 46th anniversary of Argentina's first World Cup title, the teams returned to the stadium where Chile beat Argentina on penalty kicks in the 2016 Copa America final. That defeat prompted Messi to announce his international retirement only to reverse his decision seven weeks later.

At least 90% of the fans wore Argentina jerseys, most with Messi's name and No. 10.

There were some small brown patches behind one goal on a grass field installed at a stadium where the usual surface is artificial turf. The surface was narrow, with construction scheduled to allow a wider field for the World Cup.

Bravo, at 41 the oldest player in Copa America history, had eight saves in his 150th international appearance. He and Messi, former Barcelona teammates, spoke with each other while leading their teams onto the field for the national anthems.

“Losing this way leaves a bitter taste,” Bravo said. "We played against a tremendous opponent.”

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A fan supporting Argentina reacts during a Copa America Group A soccer match against Chile in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Chile's Víctor Davila protects the ball from Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister during a Copa America Group A soccer match in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Chile's Dario Osorio attempts to block a shot from Argentina's Nicolas Tagliafico attacks during a Copa America Group A soccer match against Chile in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

A team assistant tends to Argentina's Lionel Messi during a Copa America Group A soccer match against Chile in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Argentina's Lionel Messi, right, and Chile's Erick Pulgar vie for the ball during a Copa America Group A soccer match in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Argentina's Lionel Messi prepares to shot a corner kick during a Copa America Group A soccer match against Chile in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Argentina's Lionel Messi walks to take a corner kick during a Copa America Group A soccer match against Chile in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Argentina's Lionel Messi dribbles during a Copa America Group A soccer match against Chile in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Argentina's Lionel Messi grimaces during a Copa America Group A soccer match against Chile in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Argentina's Lautaro Martinez, second from right, celebrates scoring his side's opening goal against Chile during a Copa America Group A soccer match in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

Argentina's Lautaro Martinez, second from right, celebrates scoring his side's opening goal against Chile during a Copa America Group A soccer match in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

Argentina's Lautaro Martinez celebrates scoring his side's opening goal against Chile during a Copa America Group A soccer match in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Argentina's Lautaro Martinez (22) scores the opening goal against Chile during a Copa America Group A soccer match in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024.(AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Argentina's Lautaro Martinez celebrates scoring his side's opening goal against Chile during a Copa America Group A soccer match in East Rutherford, N.J., Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Seesawing results released early Saturday in Iran’s presidential election put the race between little-known reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and hard-liner Saeed Jalili, with the lead trading between the two men as a runoff vote appeared likely.

Iranian state television reported the results which did not initially put either man in a position to win Friday's election outright, potentially setting the stage for a second round of voting to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash last month.

So far, no turnout figures have been offered— a crucial component of whether Iran's electorate backs its Shiite theocracy after years of economic turmoil and mass protests.

Voters faced a choice between the three hard-line candidates and Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon.

After counting over 19 million votes, Pezeshkian had 8.3 million while Jalili held 7.18 million. Another candidate, hard-line parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, had some 2.67 million votes while Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had over 158,000 votes.

Iranian law requires that a winner gets more than 50% of all votes cast. If not, the race’s top two candidates will advance to a runoff a week later. There’s been only one runoff presidential election in Iran’s history: in 2005, when hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bested former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from running, while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognized monitors.

There had been calls for a boycott, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of the leaders of the 2009 Green Movement protests who remains under house arrest, has also refused to vote along with his wife, his daughter said.

There’s also been criticism that Pezeshkian represents just another government-approved candidate. In a documentary on the reformist candidate aired by state TV, one woman said her generation was “moving toward the same level” of animosity with the government that Pezeshkian’s generation had in the 1979 revolution.

Raisi, 63, died in the May 19 helicopter crash that also killed the country’s foreign minister and others. He was seen as a protégé of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a potential successor. Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.

The voting came as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region — such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels — are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic continues to enrich uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build — should it choose to do so — several nuclear weapons.

Despite the recent unrest, there was only one reported attack around the election. Gunmen opened fire on a van transporting ballot boxes in the restive southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, killing two police officers and wounding others, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. The province regularly sees violence between security forces and the militant group Jaish al-Adl, as well as drug traffickers.

Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran.

In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, reformist candidate for the Iranian presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian casts his ballot as he waves to media in a polling station, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a snap election to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. (Majid Khahi, ISNA via AP)

A man casts his ballot during the presidential election as he holds a picture of the late President Ebrahim Raisi in a polling station, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman fills out her ballot during the Iranian presidential election in a polling station at the shrine of Saint Saleh in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to media after casting his vote during the presidential election in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman prepares to casts her ballot during the presidential election at a polling station inside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May along with the country's foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei arrives to vote for the presidential election, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians voted Friday in a snap election to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, with the race's sole reformist candidate vowing to seek "friendly relations" with the West in an effort to boost his campaign. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman prepares to casts her ballot during the presidential election at the Iranian consulate in Basra southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a presidential election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash in May along with the country's foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jourani)

In this photo provided by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, hard-line former Iranian senior nuclear negotiator and candidate for the presidential election Saeed Jalili casts his ballot in a polling station, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 28, 2024. Iranians are voting in a snap election to replace the late hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. (Alireza Sotakabr, ISNA via AP)