Argentina progressed to the semi-finals of the Copa America on Thursday night courtesy of a penalty shootout victory over Ecuador.

The world champions took the lead via Lisandro Martinez, with the Manchester United centre-back heading in at the back post in the 35th minute. That looked set to secure passage to the last four in 90 minutes, before Kevin Rodriguez netted in injury-time to force a shootout.

Lionel Messi missed Argentina's first penalty, before Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez scored their second. Liverpool's Alexis MacAllister, Gonzalo Montiel and Nicolas Otamendi also converted from the spot, with Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa saving two of Ecuador's four penalties.

It sets up a semi-final in New Jersey against either Venezuela or Canada next Tuesday. Elsewhere at the quarter-final stage, Brazil face Uruguay on Saturday, with Colombia v Paraguay the final tie of the round.

From a United perspective, the involvement of Martinez for Argentina is a huge boost after an injury-plagued season. He played just 14 times in 2023/24, but the defender has started five games on the international stage this summer.

Meanwhile, for the second game in a row, Alvarez started on the bench. He was selected in the starting line-up for the opening two group games but dropped out for the third and was introduced in the 65th minute against Ecuador.

Cristian Romero, Enzo Fernandez and Giovani Lo Celso were the other Premier League representatives for Lionel Scaloni.

Asked about Messi's penalty miss after the game, the Argentina boss said: "He played like the rest of the team, we are a team. This is a team, if the team played well, he played well. We have never separated the individual from the collective."