Lionel Messi led the Argentine national team to a friendly victory over its Guatemalan counterpart 4-1 on Saturday in Maryland, as part of the final preparations for the Copa America tournament, which begins on June 20 in the United States.

Despite falling behind at first through defender Lisandro Martinez's own goal against his national team in the fourth minute, Messi quickly equalized (12) and Lautaro Martinez added the second from a penalty kick (39), giving Argentina the lead before the end of the first half.

Lautaro Martinez returned in the 66th minute to score the third assist from Messi, before the latter completed the quadruple in the 77th minute.

Argentina, the defending champion, begins its Copa America campaign against Canada on June 20 in Group A, which includes Peru and Chile.

Out of 16 teams, six from the CONCACAF region (North, Central America and the Caribbean) are participating in the 48th edition of the South American Cup, namely Panama, Canada, Costa Rica and the United States, in addition to Mexico and Jamaica.