Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA via AFP / Hector Vivas

The 2024 Copa America is coming to an end this Sunday after a successful edition that has broken all sorts of records. Just for the group stage, CONMEBOL organizers reported selling more than 1 million tickets, a record for the oldest national tournament in the world. By tournament's end, the current tourney figures to surpass the attendance record of 1.5 million fans set during the Copa America Centenario in 2016, also played on U.S. soil.

Fans who wish to be part of the statistic, however, will have to pay a hefty price this Sunday as Forbes reports the cheapest ticket for the final starts at a whopping $2,000, about nine times the cost of the tournament's average ticket price which was around $200.

In fact, the average ticket price to watch Lionel Messi go for the Copa America repeat is $4,024, according to TicketIQ, which estimated the game's most expensive ticket at an eye-popping $66,765.

The price got steeper on Wednesday as Colombia, which has packed stadiums across the country, defeated Uruguay to reach the final in a match marred by controversy as Uruguayan players brawled with Colombian fans in the stands.

Axios reports that tickets to to the game are the most expensive sports tickets at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami so far this year.

The game itself figures to be a slugfest as both teams have arguably been the two most dominant sides in the tournament. Argentina and Lionel Messi have a chance to win a third straight major tournament after the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup, while also bringing a fairy tail ending to the career of beloved player Ángel Di Maria, who has announced he will be retiring from international football after the match.

Colombia, meanwhile, is riding a 28-game unbeaten streak, the longest active streak in international soccer, and one that stretches back nearly two-and-a-half years.

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