Fans left stunned as American pundit mentions surprise name in the same breath as Lionel Messi

Fans were left stunned by which player an American pundit mentioned in the same breath as Lionel Messi.

On Thursday evening Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates kicked off their 2024 Copa America campaign with a 2-0 win against Canada.

Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez scored second half goals to earn three points for the World Champions, with Messi playing key roles in both goals.

The 37-year-old pulled the strings in Atlanta, showing that he is still one of the best players on the planet despite now playing his football in MLS with Inter Miami.

Image: Getty

As was to be expected, Messi's performance dominated the post-match analysis.

Fox Sports pundits Alexi Lalas and Carli Lloyd discussed Messi at length, but the latter said something that fans simply could not believe.

Former USWNT star Lloyd is one of the greatest players of all time, but she raised a few eyebrows when she compared US men's attacker Christian Pulisic to Messi.

"There's nobody like Messi and I don't think there ever will be anyone like Messi," Lloyd began.

"He's a generational talent, like Maradona, and now Messi has had that crown.

"But there are other players, like Jude Bellingham, you know [Christian] Pulisic is coming up."

26-year-old Pulisic was a bizarre inclusion, given that he struggled to make his mark at Chelsea and is now attempting to reignite his top-level career at AC Milan.

It's fair to say that fans on social media weren't impressed.

"This might just be one of the worst football take in history," one fan wrote, while another commented: "Do not take football opinions from this continent seriously."

A third fan complained: "Fox covering soccer is the absolute worst thing in sports," while a fourth said: "No way she's gonna casually slip in Pulisic in a conversation with Messi & Maradona."