The Copa America 2024 will be held in the United States from June 20th to July 14th.
Follow along with us for competition details and expectations for each of the groups, already drawn.
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Index
Copa America 2024 – Where? When? Who?
The Copa America 2024 will take place in the United States from June 20th to July 14th.
Despite the country’s continental dimensions, the tournament will feature 14 stadiums in 13 cities spread across 10 states.
But why not hold this tournament, as is tradition, in a South American country? This is because, for those who have recently started following football, the Copa America is a tournament organized by Conmebol, encompassing only South American national teams and federations.
There’s a clear movement, whether through clubs or event organizations, where the United States is striving to popularise the most watched, played, and beloved sport on the planet within its territory.
This isn’t the first Copa America hosted by the Americans. In 2016, we had the Copa America Centenario, where Chile emerged as the champions and Argentina as the runners-up.
Over time, they’ve strengthened their league, with international figures taking charge of the teams.
The pinnacle was the signing of one of the greatest players of all time, Lionel Messi, who joined Inter Miami, David Beckham’s team.
Now, they host another major edition of the tournament, which interestingly won’t only feature the US among the competing teams, but also all the national teams from Concacaf – those that have qualified, of course.
Not to mention the 2026 World Cup, where the US will once again be one of the host countries.
The participants will include the 10 Conmebol teams, combined with the 6 qualifiers from Concacaf.
The Concacaf teams’ qualification was based on the semifinalists of the last edition, plus two teams eliminated in the quarterfinals, who competed in a playoff against each other.
The matches will take place at the following stadiums:
- Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas AT&T Stadium, Arlington *
- Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
- Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City
- Exploria Stadium, Orlando
- GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City*
- Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens* (FINAL VENUE)
- Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara*
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta* (OPENING GAME VENUE)
- MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford*
- NRG Stadium, Houston*
- Q2 Stadium, Austin SoFi Stadium, Inglewood* State Farm Stadium, Glendale
*Stadiums that will host matches in the 2026 World Cup
Without further ado, let’s look at the groups:
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The spots in Groups A and D will be filled by the winners of the matches between Canada vs Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica vs Honduras, respectively.
Image: Reproduction Wikipédia
Group Assessments and Expectations
Group A (Argentina, Peru, Chile, Canada/Trinidad and Tobago)
In this group, Argentina is expected to dominate and secure qualification in first place with a 100% record.
The Argentine national team is likely to put forth all their efforts for this Copa America, given that it will probably be Lionel Messi’s last major competition with the ‘Hermanos’ at a high level.
We can’t doubt Messi’s capabilities, but with the next World Cup two and a half years away, it will be more challenging for him to keep up with the intense pace of world football, especially while playing in the MLS.
The North American league has a much lower intensity compared to the Brazilian league and the top 5 European leagues, which means his body won’t be pushed to the extreme. When facing players from these leagues, there might be a significant difference.
Additionally, their potential strongest competitors in the group would be Peru and Chile, both of which aren’t performing well in the Qualifiers.
Chile, which experienced a golden period recently, with its most successful national team in history, isn’t producing players capable of replacing the great names of days gone by.
Alexis Sanchez, Vidal, Claudio Bravo, Vargas, Valdivia, and Beausejour are all quite advanced in age, with the latter two already retired.
Peru, on the other hand, is struggling. They’ve built competitive teams recently, reaching the final of the 2019 Copa America. However, they haven’t secured any victories in the qualifiers so far, currently holding the bottom spot in the competition.
Canada, if they qualify, might cause an upset, especially if they play in the same way they did in the Qatar World Cup. A team that understands its technical limitations and organizes itself well. They might finish second.
Image: Carl Recine/Reuters
Group B – (Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Jamaica)
Regarding who might take first place, Ecuador is a strong candidate. They had a good World Cup and narrowly missed reaching the round of 16 due to a detail. In the qualifiers, they are in fifth place but could be in fourth as they started the competition with a three-point deduction because of Byron Castillo, who played in the last qualifiers for Ecuador but previously claimed to be Colombian.
However, Venezuela could surprise. The Vinotinto team has been putting up impressive performances and is in fourth place in the qualifiers, with a great chance of qualifying for their first World Cup.
Mexico is the current Concacaf Gold Cup champion and always has players of a good standard. But playing in Concacaf is different from a Copa America, where the technical level, tactics, and intensity are much higher. It will be a tough fight for the two spots in the group.
Jamaica enters as the underdog in the group, with technical quality significantly inferior to the others.
Image: Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images
Group C – (United States, Uruguay, Panama, Bolivia)
In this group, similar to the first, the battle will be for the second spot.
Uruguay is likely to secure first place with a 100% record. Marcelo Bielsa’s squad is playing beautiful football.
They defeated Argentina away from home in a tactical masterclass by El Loco Bielsa against Scaloni, which is extremely difficult. After all, we’re talking about a coach who is a World Cup winner.
The second spot is up for grabs between the other three teams in the group. The United States have a slight advantage as they’re playing at home and have some players performing in top European clubs, absorbing effective tactics and positioning.
However, Panama reached the final of the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup, defeating the United States in the semifinal via penalties.
Bolivia is second-to-last in the qualifiers and won’t have the altitude advantage of their country, a significant asset in this contest. Nonetheless, they might cause some trouble.
Image: Dante Fernandez/AFP via Getty Images / Jogada10
Group D – (Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Costa Rica/Honduras)
In other times, we would be talking here about Brazil’s qualification in first place with a 100% record as something obvious.
But times have changed. Despite having some of the world’s best players in major leagues, the Brazilian national team hasn’t clicked yet.
The style of play proposed by Diniz requires a lot of repetition to be executed with mastery.
There are off-field issues hovering over the Brazilian team, such as allegations against President Ednaldo Rodrigues and the expiration date of coach Fernando Diniz’s tenure.
According to Ednaldo, Carlo Ancelotti would already be leading the team in this Copa America, but such matters haven’t been confirmed by the coach himself and his staff.
The Italian coach commented in October 2023 that there is no closed deal and they are merely rumors. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian national team is breaking one negative taboo after another, as mentioned in previous articles.
Colombia is experiencing the opposite situation. They’re playing great football and rely on Luis Diaz to tip the scales in matches.
Hence, contrary to history, we should be pragmatic. Today, Colombia is the favorite to claim the top spot in the group.
Brazil should secure the second spot, as their opponents, Paraguay and the Concacaf qualifier, are considerably weaker, even if the Canarinhos aren’t having a good moment.
And for you? Who will be the champion?
Image: Gabriel Aponte/Getty Images
Written by Vitor F L Miller.
