'It is a shame, but...,' World champion Lionel Messi on Brazil's Neymar missing upcoming Copa America

Argentina's World Cup winning footballer Lionel Messi has said Brazilian player Neymar's absence from upcoming Copa America 2024 is 'a shame.' While Neymar is out with a knee injury, Messi insisted that Brazil is still a candidate to win the tournament.

"It [Neymar's absence] is a shame, but they have a million players," Messi said, as reported by sports news outlet ESPN.

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"Brazil always has plenty of players because they are continually different. They have a very strong, very competitive team. Brazil is like Argentina: it's a candidate and wants to win the Copa América," he added.

The 36-year-old footballer also talked about Argentina's chances and said that they'd have be at their best to defend their title.

"Today, we can say that we are the best because we are the world champions. But that does not make us believe that we are going to win this Copa América by walking," Messi said.

"It is going to be very level, all the teams are complicated. Ecuador has a generation of very good youngsters, who know well what they want, they are intense with the ball, they are clear about what they do and they are physically strong. And like them, you also have Colombia, Uruguay, not to mention Brazil. That's why I say it will be even and our team is aware that we are going to have to continue doing the same and more to win again," he added.

Argentina had won the last Copa America by beating Brazil 1-0 in the final three years ago for the South American nation's first big title in nearly three decades.

Since then, Argentina have also managed to win the FIFA World Cup 2022 and have won five of their six 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier games as well.