After almost a month of non-stop action, the Copa America 2024 has reached its final point. On one side we have the defending champions Lionel Messi & Argentina going up against Colombia, who have been on a 28-game undefeated streak. It is no doubt a clash for the ages, however, the choice of referee for this vital game has raised many questions.

The official chosen for this match is Brazil referee Raphael Claus and let’s just say he does not have the best history with Lionel Messi. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about the Brazilian referee.

All about Raphael Claus, the Copa America final official

Raphael Claus, a native of Santa Barbara, Brazil, embarked on his refereeing career at the age of 20. After several years officiating in the second division, he ascended to the professional ranks in 2010. In 2015 the Brazil native was even officially recognized as an official FIFA referee.

However, it wasn’t until 2022 that Claus made his debut at the FIFA World Cup. Here in Qatar, he officiated two matches which included, England vs Iran and Canada vs Morocco. Nonetheless, the Brazilian has served as a CONMEBOL tournament referee since the 2019 Copa America.

In 2019 he officiated only 1 game while in the 2021 Copa America, he overlooked 3 games. These games also included Colombia’s match against Peru. Now this year marks his third appearance in the Copa America tournament. So far, he has already overseen a match between Venezuela and Mexico in the competition.

In the course of this Group stage encounter, the official issued a total of four yellow cards. Now, his forthcoming significant assignment is officiating the Copa America final, featuring Argentina and Colombia. Nonetheless, this appointment raises concerns due to his contentious history with Lionel Messi and the Argentine national team.

The controversial past of Claus and Lionel Messi

In his career, Raphael Claus has officiated 4 Argentina matches which they won 2 times and drew 2 times. The biggest controversy out of these matches came in 2020 during Argentina’s World Cup qualifier match. Argentina was facing Paraguay in the match and the official had already ignited the Argentine’s wraith with a controversial penalty he gave to the La Albirroja’s.

The controversy only added as in the dying minutes of the game, Claus denied Argentina a goal that could have sealed La Albiceleste’s win in the match. However, the referee disallowed the goal for a foul after a VAR check. This evidently made Lionel Messi furious who even told the referee, “Two times you’ve f***** us.”

Regarding Colombia, Claus has officiated their 3 games. One of these was the Argentina vs Colombia match in 2022. This was the last match Colombia lost before their legendary undefeated streak started. Let’s hope the Copa America finals are not marred with any controversies.

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.