Chile face Argentina in tonight’s Copa America final for the right to call themselves South America’s dominant team but perhaps an even bigger question for football fans the world over regards whether Lionel Messi can finally win a major international title.

The Barcelona forward has won every trophy possible with the Spanish club but he has lost three finals with Argentina, including the World Cup final in 2014 and the Copa America last year.

The game against Chile in New Jersey gives Messi a chance to end both his personal hoodoo and that of Argentina, who have not won a major title since lifting the Copa America in Ecuador in 1993.

“Getting to three finals is impressive,” said Messi, whose first de-cider was a 3-0 loss to Brazil in the 2007 Copa America.

“I hope we can win the cup.”

Argentina lost to Chile on penalties in the final last year and Messi said the squad were better prepared this time around.

“You learn all the time,” said Messi, who turned 29 on Friday.

“We have been working together for another year, we are stronger as a group and we’ve really grown in a lot of ways.”

The five-times world player of the year has been outstanding at the Centenary Copa America, even though he played the first three games as a substitute after injuring his back in a warm-up game.

His sublime free-kick in the 4-0 win over the United States took him on to 55 goals and above Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer.

Messi called the performance against the US “perfect” and he will not have forgotten that Argentina beat Chile 2-1 in their opening match on June 6.

However, the Chileans have improved since, beating Bolivia and Panama before hammering Mexico 7-0 in what was undoubtedly the performance of the tournament.

Coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, who replaced Jorge Sampaoli in January, is now settled in the job and he has Chile playing the same high-paced pressing and super-fast counter attacks that make them such an exciting team to watch.

“This team has created an identity,” the Argentine-born Pizzi said after the semi-final.

“It’s a group of winners, I can see that just talking with them.”

Chile will have Artur Vidal back after suspension and Pizzi hopes central midfielder Marcelo Diaz will recover from the muscle injury that kept him out the 2-0 win over Colombia in the semi-final.

They are on a high and confident that they will do the double over their neighbours.

But they will not have their home fans behind them this time and there is one other detail. The last time Messi played at the MetLife stadium was also in June and also against a South American side.

Argentina beat Brazil 4-3 in a friendly in 2012... Messi scored a hat-trick.

Factbox – Copa America finals since 1993

The Copa America was played as a 12-team tournament from 1993 when the South American Football Confederation invited two teams from the North and Central America and Caribbean region, to join in.

1993 final (host Ecuador Argentina 2 Mexico 1

•  Gabriel Batistuta struck twice for Argentina who had progressed through the knockout rounds with penalty shootout wins over Brazil and Colombia.

1995 (Uruguay): Uruguay 1 Brazil 1 (5-3 pens)

• Midfielders Enzo Francescoli and Gus Poyet steered Uruguay to the title and a shootout victory over the world champions.

1997 (Bolivia): Brazil 3 Bolivia 1

• Ronaldo and Romario teamed up to help Brazil become the first team to hold the Copa America and World Cup at the same time.

1999 (Paraguay): Brazil 3 Uruguay 0

•  A team featuring Ronaldo and Rivaldo, who scored twice in the final, helped Brazil retain the trophy with the pair ending as joint top scorers with five goals each.

2001 (Colombia): Colombia 1 Mexico 0

•  Holders Brazil were upset 2-0 by Honduras in the quarter-finals and a goal by defender Ivan Cordoba sealed Colombia’s first and only title.

2004 (Peru): Brazil 2 Argentina 2 (4-2 pens)

• Brazil striker Adriano headed an equaliser in the final seconds of stoppage time to take the final to a shootout.

2007 (Venezuela): Brazil 3 Argentina 0

•  Argentina, with Juan Roman Riquelme in his pomp and a young Lionel Messi, were undone by Brazil’s counter-attacks and a decisive own goal by Roberto Ayala.

2011 (Argentina): Uruguay 3 Paraguay 0

• Two goals by Diego Forlan and one from Luis Suarez sealed a romping win at the River Plate stadium in Buenos Aires.

2015 (Chile): Chile 0 Argentina 0 (4-1 pens)

• Chile’s best generation of players, moulded by a succession of Argentine coaches, undid Messi’s World Cup finalists.