Martinez opened the scoring with the easiest of finishes when Slavia goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek inadvertently played the ball into his path, leaving him to score into an empty net.

Denzel Dumfries got on the end of Marcus Thuram’s low cross to increase the lead for last season’s finalists.

Martinez threaded a superb pass through to Petar Sucic but he was denied by a sensational intervention on the line from Slavia defender Stepan Chaloupek.

However, it was not long before Inter had their third goal.

Alessandro Bastoni’s cross was tapped home by Martinez in the 65th minute as Cristian Chivu’s side strolled to victory.

Captain Martinez became the first Inter player to score at least one goal in seven editions of the European Cup/Champions League with Argentine forward Julio Cruz doing so on six occasions.

Slavia had just one shot and were comprehensively outplayed on a miserable night for the Czech side.

The top eight sides in the new format will qualify automatically for the last 16, while teams finishing ninth down to 24th have to play a two-legged play-off.

Captain Lautaro Martinez expertly gave Inter the lead in the 12th minute after he caught hold of Alessandro Bastoni’s deep cross to the back post and his volley bounced in off the underside of the bar.

Right-back Denzel Dumfries thought he had doubled Inter’s lead and wrapped up the points in Prague but his fine finish was ruled out for offside.

Inter, the 2023 runners-up, have conceded just one goal in their seven European games this season and restricted the home side to an xG of just 0.35.

Simone Inzaghi’s fourth-placed side will host Monaco in the final league phase game knowing they can still secure second place in the table if Barcelona are beaten and Arsenal fail to win.

Sparta Prague’s elimination from the Champions League is now official before they travel to Bayer Leverkusen for the final match.

Martinez’s extra-time strike secured Argentina’s record 16th triumph in the finals, moving them ahead of Uruguay as the most successful team in the competition.

His five goals for La Albiceleste secured him the tournament’s Golden Boot, equalling the most scored by an Argentine player in a single edition of the Copa America in the 21st century, going level with Lionel Messi in 2016 and Juan Roman Riquelme in 2007.

Despite Colombia’s defeat, James had yet another outstanding international tournament having previously starred for Los Cafeteros at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

James received the tournament’s Best Player award, having produced six assists in Colombia’s run to the final, surpassing Messi’s previous record (five) achieved during Argentina’s 2021 success.

Emiliano Martinez claimed his third consecutive Golden Glove at a major tournament, having kept five clean sheets at the 2024 Copa America.

Argentina conceded just once in their quarter-final against Ecuador and needed penalties to advance to the semi-finals with Martinez saving the first two spot-kicks.

Among the teams that have played at least five matches in an edition of the tournament, only four teams have conceded fewer than two goals – Argentina in 2024 (one), Colombia in 2001 (zero), Brazil in 1989 (one) and 2019 (one).

Argentina were given an early scare when an own goal after four minutes by Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez put Guatemala ahead – their first ever goal against the reigning World Cup and Copa America champions.

But Messi equalised eight minutes later when keeper Nicholas Hagen cleared the ball straight into his path and the Argentina captain scored into an empty net.

Lautaro Martinez, who finished as Serie A’s top scorer last season, put Argentina ahead with a 39th-minute penalty and the Inter Milan star scored his second from a Messi pass after the break.

“We are aiming for the title, we are fighting for everything,” he told TyC Sports.

“We said it when the Copa America ended in 2021 and when the World Cup ended, we will try to prepare ourselves to start the Copa America in the best possible way and hopefully it will be all joy.”

Messi claimed his second in the 77th minute after a superb pass from substitute Angel di Maria.

The tournament runs in the United States from 20 June to 14 July, with coach Lionel Scaloni’s side starting their campaign against Canada on Thursday before group games against Chile and Peru.

“We’re going to keep trying to do our best, we still want to keep winning titles,” added Messi.

“It will be harder and harder, the games are getting tougher, winning [the Copa] again is hard, but we will try again.”

Second-placed Inter remain 13 points behind Serie A leaders Napoli, who won 3-0 at Spezia earlier in the day.

Captain Martinez headed the only goal of the game from a corner by former Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.

Inter had two goals disallowed late on – substitute Romelu Lukaku’s effort was ruled out for a foul on Malick Thiaw and Martinez’s strike for offside.

A long video assistant referee decision upheld the decision to rule out Argentina striker Martinez’s effort because he was offside when he ran onto Lukaku’s flick to slot home.

Milan, who dropped to sixth in Serie A this weekend, have lost five of their last six games in all competitions.

Stefano Pioli’s side did not manage a shot on target until the 75th minute, when Andre Onana denied Brahim Diaz.

The title remains firmly in Napoli’s hands thanks to their comfortable win at Spezia, with Georgia winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia converting a penalty and Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen scoring twice.