Top-Ranked Argentina to Take on Venezuela in Copa America Quarterfinal at Gillette Stadium

Foxborough, MA — The top-ranked team in the world is coming to Gillette Stadium Saturday night.

Lionel Messi and Argentina will come to Foxborough this weekend to play Venezuela in the quarterfinals of the Copa America Centenario. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 18. 

As of Wednesday morning, almost 50,000 tickets have been sold for the game – including more than 15,000 sold in the last 72 hours, tournament promoters said.

This will be Argentina’s first visit to Foxborough since the 1994 World Cup, when Foxboro Stadium served as the country’s home base with opening games against Greece and Nigeria – both wins.

Messi, the 2015 Balon d’Oro winner as the world’s player of the year, will be making his first-ever appearance in New England. The four-time world player of the year and Barcelona stars leads the Argentine squad that capped group play with a perfect 3-0-0 mark behind last night’s 3-0 win over Bolivia in Seattle.

Argentina’s Copa America squad also includes Angel Di Maria (Paris St. Germain, FRA), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli, ITA), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City, ENG) and Javier Mascherano (Barcelona, ESP), among many others.

Venezuela advanced to the quarterfinals with a second-place finish in Group C with a 2-0-1 record, matching Mexico on points and taking the second seed by virtue of a lower goal differential. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw on Monday night in Houston, lifting Mexico into the top seed.

The Venezuela team is highlighted by Tomas Rincon (Genoa, ITA), Salomon Rondon (West Bromwich Albion, ENG), Oswaldo Vizcarrondo (Nantes, FRA) and Luis Manuel Seijas (Santa Fe, COL).

Those who can't catch the Copa America Centenario can watch it on the Univision Network and FOX family of networks.

Information in this article provided by Gillette Stadium.