Despite the spectacular editions of the supreme South American national team competition that have taken place in recent years, Kylian Mbappé ensured during the last World Cup that “football in South America is not as advanced as in Europe and that is why, when you look at the latest World Cups, the Europeans always win.” How old are these words, as Barca player Rafinha reminded him just a few days ago, “Unfortunately for him and fortunately for us, he lost the World Cup against a South American team.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Real Madrid’s brand new signing added fuel to the fire with some recent statements in which he reflected that the European Championship is “more difficult to win than the World Cup.” Raphinha himself and the Frenchman’s future teammate Luka Modric immediately stepped in to prove him wrong. Mbappe’s words perhaps match the Frenchman’s desperation and desire to win the Euro Cup. The only major trophy he has not achieved with the French team.
“Unfortunately for him and fortunately for us, he lost the World Cup against a South American team.”
Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, Jamaica, Panama and the United States are the invited teams for the tournament. The six national teams, which are part of Concacaf, will make up the edition of the Copa America with the most invited teams in history. This time it will be held in the United States, which will be a great test for the North American country before the 2026 World Cup that they will organize together with Mexico and Canada.
Copa America matches will take place in 14 different venues and the Grand Final will take place on July 14 at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. The competition will be divided into four groups and qualifying for the quarter-finals, unlike the Euro Cup, is a prerequisite for finishing in the top two in the group stage necessarily,
This is disputed in the United States
The Copa America will be a big test for the North American country ahead of the 2026 World Cup
If we talk about the favorites, of course, we have to talk about the reigning world champions. Lionel Scaloni’s Argentina faces a huge challenge in this Copa America and this challenge has only been achieved by the best generation of Spanish football between 2008 and 2012. Argentina has achieved the feat of winning two consecutive continental tournaments and a World Cup as Spain did with the help of Luis Aragones and Vicente del Bosque. Win, win, win and win again, as the “wise man” would say. Most of the players from the Argentina team that was declared world champions in Qatar will repeat in this Copa America, except for Paulo Dybala, Angel Correa, Alejandro Gomez, Thiago Almada and Juan Foyth.
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The Copa America will be Angel Di Maria’s last involvement with Argentina. “El Fideo” will leave the national team after playing a key role in the Albiceleste’s latest successes. The talented left-footer played a key role in securing the 2021 Copa America, scoring the only goal in the final played against Brazil at the Maracana.
Messi’s Argentina, the favorite
The one who refuses to leave the Albiceleste is none other than Leo Messi, as he recently declared to ESPN, “As long as I feel good, I’m physically fine and I can continue performing at the highest level and help my teammates, I would like to continue staying there.” The Barca legend wants to extend his record as the most successful player in history by achieving this Copa America. As if that wasn’t motivation enough, Leo only needs to play one match in this edition to establish himself as the player with the most appearances in the tournament, one of the few pending records for the Rosario forward.
Scotland fans relieved as Euro 2024 excitement continues after Swiss drawTheir eternal football enemy, Brazil, shows clear signs of not being at their best, neither in terms of games nor in terms of results. With Neymar Jr. out due to injury, Vinicius Jr. would be the best hope for the Brazilians, despite receiving many criticisms from the press in his country in recent weeks. Although Brazil is the team with the most World Cup wins (5), they are still far behind the 15 Copa Americas accumulated by Argentina and Uruguay. Currently, Selection It ranks sixth in the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, collecting only 7 points in the 18 played so far.
The truth is that there is a certain amount of football unrest in Brazil due to a project that does not seem to have any clear direction in recent years following Ancelotti’s capture. Canarinha. The Italian coach was the great wish of the Brazilian Federation and the first objective was to give the sport a new direction Selection,
Vinicius Junior is Brazil’s top reference for this Copa America
On the other hand, Brazil have been able to rely on three different coaches since Tite left the bench yellow green losing to Croatia in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup in Qatar. At first it was Ramon Menezes, on an interim basis, who led Brazil before the arrival of Fernando Diniz, achieving a balance of one win and two losses in three games. After working in the Brazilian youth teams, the federation trusted him for the position while he combined his work as head coach of Fluminense. In the end, Diniz and his “relationist” proposal, organizing the team through negotiations between players in small spaces, did not work due to an insufficient balance of results with 2 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses in 6 games.
Brazil is finding itself
Despite accumulating great individual talent, Brazil have yet to find consistency in terms of results
The team seems to have found a better version with the arrival of Dorival Jr., but how it will develop in a demanding tournament like the Copa America is unknown. The four matches he has led the team in so far were not official.
Good game and good results
Colombia wants to surprise
A team that seeks prominence based on results and good play is Colombia, led by Nestor Lorenzo. Coffee producerWho have accumulated 23 consecutive undefeated games, having been champions in only one edition (2001) of the 47 competitions.
Selection Coffee maker This is the team that comes with the best dynamics of results in the competition. Led by the excellent Luis Diaz on the offensive front, Colombia has surpassed major rivals such as Spain (0-1), Brazil (2-1) and Germany (0-2) in recent months. The last time they lost was against Argentina (1-0) in a 2026 World Cup qualifying match.
Former Madrid player James Rodríguez, 32 years old and captain, remains the undisputed leader of the Colombian team despite his age. Among his teammates are many faces that Spanish fans know due to their past or present in our league; Johan Mojica (current Osasuna player), Yerry Mina (FC Barcelona), Santiago Arias (Atlético de Madrid), Jhon Córdoba (Espanyol and Granada), Jefferson Lerma (Levante), or Rafael Santos Borré (Villarreal and Atlético de Madrid).
Colombia, the fittest team
The Colombians have accumulated 23 consecutive games without losing
Another great rivalry, perhaps without the glamour of Brazil-Argentina, is between Chile and Peru in what is known as the “Pacific Classic.” Ricardo Gareca, who was an iconic figure for Peruvians because of Peru’s qualification for the World Cup in Russia after a 36-year drought, has gone from hero to villain. Now, Gareca is leading the Chilean team, with Alexis Sanchez and Claudio Bravo still fighting, that will face Peru in Group A.
We must not forget the energetic United States and the always combative Uruguay, led this time by Marcelo Bielsa. The Americans will try to achieve success in the Copa America and overcome the obstacle of reaching the semi-finals, their best record achieved in 1995 and 2016. For their part, charruas They will fight to become champions, and break the tie with Argentina as the team with the most Copa Américas, to honor Luis Suárez in his last great international appearance.
Another huge incentive at this Copa America will be to be able to see a first appearance in a major national team tournament for young players who potentially have a future ahead of them. Bright future. Andric (Brazil), Kendry Paez (Ecuador), Julio Other players including Enciso (Paraguay), Valentin Carboni and Alejandro Garnacho (Argentina) will be looking to make their mark on the South American continent for the first time with their teams.
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