Colombia’s&nbsp;James Rodriguez&nbsp;has reignited controversy months after the&nbsp;2024 Copa America final, alleging that referee&nbsp;Raphael Claus&nbsp;unfairly favored&nbsp;<a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/lionel-messi/">Lionel Messi</a>’s Argentina&nbsp;in their dramatic title clash. Rodriguez, who was named&nbsp;Player of the Tournament, believes that&nbsp;officiating decisions played a decisive role in Colombia’s heartbreaking defeat.



James led his nation on a remarkable run through the tournament, helping them reach their first&nbsp;<a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/copa-america-2024/">Copa America</a> final since 2001. Despite their impressive campaign,&nbsp;Colombia fell to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/argentina/">Argentina</a> in extra time, as&nbsp;Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal just minutes before a penalty shootout seemed inevitable.



While Argentina celebrated their&nbsp;second consecutive Copa America title, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/james-rodriguez/">Rodriguez</a> has&nbsp;not forgotten the final heartbreak—and he now claims that the referee’s decisions&nbsp;influenced the outcome of the match.



<h2>James Rodriguez breaks his silence on the final</h2>



In a recent Los Amigos de Edu interview, Rodriguez expressed his frustration, stating that&nbsp;the referee favored Argentina. According to the&nbsp;former <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/real-madrid/">Real Madrid</a> playmaker, his team was denied a&nbsp;clear penalty&nbsp;that could have changed the course of the final. “We had an excellent Copa America. Obviously, we wanted the title, but we didn’t win the Copa America because of external things, I think… The referee favored Argentina. He didn’t give us penalties. For me, a clear one,”&nbsp;Rodriguez said.



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He&nbsp;did not specify which moment he was referring to, but his words reflect a lingering sense of&nbsp;injustice&nbsp;among Colombia’s squad and supporters.



Despite his frustration, the&nbsp;33-year-old Colombian captain acknowledged Argentina’s strength, admitting that&nbsp;Lionel Scaloni’s side played well and ultimately secured victory on their own terms. However, he believes the referee’s decisions&nbsp;tilted the balance in favor of La Albiceleste, hurting Los Cafeteros’ chances of&nbsp;securing a historic title.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1200" height="675" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/full/WST_20250319_WST_560934_messi-james-rodriguez-copa-america-2-1200x675_67a79afc.webp&amp;width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="messi james rodriguez copa america" class="wp-image-560936" srcset="https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/19193326/messi-james-rodriguez-copa-america-2-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/19193326/messi-james-rodriguez-copa-america-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/19193326/messi-james-rodriguez-copa-america-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/19193326/messi-james-rodriguez-copa-america-2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/19193326/messi-james-rodriguez-copa-america-2-740x416.jpg 740w, https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/19193326/messi-james-rodriguez-copa-america-2-490x275.jpg 490w, https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/19193326/messi-james-rodriguez-copa-america-2-250x140.jpg 250w, https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/03/19193326/messi-james-rodriguez-copa-america-2.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px"></figure></figure>



<h2>Colombia’s rising ambitions in CONMEBOL</h2>



Despite the painful defeat, Colombia’s performance at the&nbsp;2024 Copa America&nbsp;demonstrated that they are emerging as a major force in&nbsp;South American soccer. Head coach&nbsp;Nestor Lorenzo&nbsp;has built a well-balanced squad, with&nbsp;Rodriguez leading as the team’s creative force, while Premier League stars&nbsp;Jefferson Lerma and Daniel Munoz&nbsp;add stability in key positions.



Rodriguez’s resurgence as a&nbsp;world-class playmaker&nbsp;was one of the tournament’s biggest storylines. His career has been filled with&nbsp;ups and downs&nbsp;since his breakthrough at the&nbsp;<a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/world-cup/">2014 FIFA World Cup</a>, but in this tournament, he silenced his critics, playing at an elite level once again.



The star veteran was&nbsp;instrumental&nbsp;in Colombia’s&nbsp;run to the final, playing a very different role than the one that earned him the&nbsp;Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup. This time, he excelled as a&nbsp;playmaker, leading the tournament with&nbsp;six assists—far ahead of any other player, as the next-best providers managed only two.

James Rodriguez stirs controversy: Were Lionel Messi and Argentina handed an unfair advantage in 2024 Copa America final?

James Rodriguez stirs controversy: Were Lionel Messi and Argentina handed an unfair advantage in 2024 Copa America final? - World Soccer Talk

destacadas

With North America hosting Copa America for the first time since the Centenario in 2016, it was supposed to be the biggest edition ever. Sixteen teams, a strong crop of sides from North America, and potentially Lionel Messi’s final tournament with Argentina. Despite all the makings of great storylines, the negative aspects of the tournament took the headlines at the Copa America 2024. Those are enough to put any dreams of another Copa America in the USA on hold. 



Far too much went wrong at the tournament that was easily avoidable. The recent Copa America Final showed a rare glimpse of <a href="https://x.com/DiarioOle/status/1812611155992428868" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hooliganism on US soil</a>. Other soccer events that the United States hosts have rowdy fans, but that was nothing like this. 



At the Copa America Final in Miami, fans streamed through gates and over walls, even finding ways into Hard Rock Stadium via air vents. This was not a fault of the United States, as it does not have issues in other sports. Instead, as the organization hosting the event, it was <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/copa-america/conmebol-to-blame-for-copa-america-chaos-not-ticketless-fans/">the fault of CONMEBOL</a>. In our opinion, the United States as a country should distance itself from the South American confederation because of the tournament’s complete disorganization. Not just in Miami, but also in the incidents of <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/uruguays-darwin-nunez-other-players-fight-fans-after-heated-copa-america-semifinal-loss-in-charlotte/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">violence that happened in Charlotte</a>, as well as the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/copa-america/copa-america-faces-uphill-battle-in-comparisons-to-euro-2024/">poor planning of the entire competition</a>.



The final straw was the debacle of the Copa America final, which left a bitter taste in the mouths of a lot of fans. It also made many of us realize that we don’t want the competition to return stateside. Why? Due to the games being hosted here in the US, our country unfairly received a lot of criticism about Copa America. It ended up being an embarrassment for the United States even though we weren’t in charge.



<h2>The USA can learn from Copa America before hosting another</h2>



Let us be clear, the failure of the 2024 Copa America is not exclusive to the final. CONMEBOL was in over its head with stadium selection, quality of pitches and even inadequate training facilities. The United States should take a step back and think about whether it wants CONMEBOL to tarnish our good reputation in future competitions. If this was a test before the 2026 World Cup, there are major concerns for FIFA and the host nations.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" width="1200" height="675" src="https://ds-images.bolavip.com/news/image?src=https://images.worldsoccertalk.com/webp/full/WST_20240718_WST_517016_Messi-Miami-Copa-America-1200x675_d5ad26b1.webp&amp;width=1200&amp;height=675" alt="" class="wp-image-517096" srcset="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Messi-Miami-Copa-America-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Messi-Miami-Copa-America-300x169.jpg 300w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Messi-Miami-Copa-America-768x432.jpg 768w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Messi-Miami-Copa-America-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/07/Messi-Miami-Copa-America.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px"></figure></figure>



In time, the Copa America can return to the United States. Yet, soccer is on a consistent growth pattern right now in the USA. Tarnishing that with poor outside management will not help promote the soccer product in North America. For instance, the Copa America has already raised pressure on the World Cup to be the pinnacle of American soccer. Pitch quality and training facilities should not be any form of talking point. Likewise, hooliganism has no place at these international tournaments or any soccer game for that matter. Until CONMEBOL can figure out how to curb that in future events, the United States should steer clear. 



And yes, this is an issue stretching from CONMEBOL. World Cup Qualifying has also suffered from unruly fans taking advantage of lackluster security at major games. A game between Argentina and Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, for example, suffered delays after clashes among fans in the stands. Police actions drew criticism in that fixture as well.



<h2>When can the Copa America return to North America?</h2>



Saying the Copa America should be halted in the United States is not an admittance that it should never return. Give it some time, and the United States can do a better job working with CONMEBOL to host a bigger and better tournament. Take Max Bretos, an MLS announcer, for example. As an American, he has strong opinions about the competition coming back.



“I don’t want it back in the United States in 2028,” <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-soccer-og-with-max-bretos/id1555592637?i=1000662565315" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bretos said on his podcast</a> this week. “I want it back, but I don’t want it back in 2028. Let someone else have it.”



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Why we don't want another Copa America in the USA

Do we want another Copa America in the USA in the future? We explain why it's time to take a break from CONMEBOL on US soil.

Why we don't want another Copa America in the USA - World Soccer Talk

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