Argentina won its first Grand Slam championship since 1993 after beating Brazil 1-0.

Argentina defeated Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America final on Saturday, ensuring that the national team won the championship for the first time in 28 years.

Argentina’s winning goal at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro came in the 22nd minute after a long pass from Rodrigo de Paulo to Angel Di Maria.

The 33-year-old veteran forward relied on some sloppy defense from left back Renan Lodi to control and pass the ball to goalkeeper Edson.

This is just the third goal that Brazil has conceded in this tournament.

Brazil applied pressure in the exciting second half, but even with five forwards on the field, they could not equalize the score in the excellent Argentine defense team protected by Rodrigo de Paulo.

Brazil’s Neymar and Argentina’s Leandro Paredes in the match [Amanda Perobelli/ Reuters]

Argentina’s victory was a special victory for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who won the championship for the first time in a blue and white jersey after more than a decade of club and personal honors.

At the end of the game, some beaming teammates threw the tearful Messi into the air.

Messi ended the game tied for top scorer with four goals and was voted tied for best scorer together with Neymar. But he was quiet the whole game, and uncharacteristically missed the perfect opportunity to end the game with two minutes left.

When the final whistle sounded, the Argentine TV station announced “Argentina champion, Messi champion!”

This victory is the 15th time that Argentina has won the America’s Cup, which means that they are tied with Uruguay for the leading championship in history.

Their victory extended their undefeated record under Lionel Scaloni to 20 games and allowed Brazil to play for the first time since losing to Belgium in the 2018 World Cup quarter-finals Lose.