On Thursday night, the Copa America draw took place, letting teams from North, Central, and South America know who they would be playing. The event takes place in the summer of 2024, and for the second time, it will be held in the United States. CONCACAF still has two spots available. There are four teams: Canada, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and […]
On Thursday night, the Copa America draw took place, letting teams from North, Central, and South America know who they would be playing. The event takes place in the summer of 2024, and for the second time, it will be held in the United States. CONCACAF still has two spots available. Four teams are still in the game to play: Honduras, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, and Costa Rica. Those two spots were given by CONMEBOL as CONCACAF play-off spots, so they are also official.
Along with the regular 10 teams from South America, there are six teams from CONCACAF. When it comes back to the US for the first time since 2016, the Copa America in 2024 will have more teams than any other in history. But even though there are a lot of countries still in the running, the four groups had some interesting games between competition heavyweights.
A good matchup for the USMNT?
The US is in the Copa America and plays Uruguay, Panama, and Bolivia. Even though none of those teams are obviously easy to beat, it’s not the worst thing that could happen for Gregg Berhalter’s team. Uruguay was the best team in the draw when it came out of pot two. The FIFA World Rankings put Peru 24 spots below Uruguay, even though they were in the same pot. The United States can set the tone in that kind of game, even if it’s a tough one.
Then it’s a fair draw to play Panama, which is also in CONCACAF. In the past, Panama has caused problems for the United States. As an example, Panama beat the USMNT in Panama City during the qualifying rounds for the 2022 World Cup. The United States won 5-1 in the rematch in Orlando. The United States should win this game because of this.
Lastly, Bolivia is the worst team in the 2024 Copa America, at least according to the FIFA World Rankings. Not only does that game have to be won, but it also gives the USMNT a chance to score more goals. The USMNT’s Group C is tied with Group D for the next round. Based on this, the winner of this group will play the winner of Group D, which is expected to be Brazil.
The United States can win this group. Still, if it comes down to the last game against Uruguay to make it to the next round, it will be very hard for the Stars and Stripes. The USMNT starts the game against Bolivia, then plays Panama, and finally plays Uruguay to end it.
See the rest of the Copa America 2024 draw here.
Argentina, which had just won both the Copa America and the World Cup, was put in Group A. The team has two tough games coming up against South American teams. La Albiceleste is playing Peru, which made it to the semifinals of the Copa America in 2021. After that, Argentina plays Chile, a team that won the Copa America the last time it was held in the US, in 2016. It did that against Argentina, beating Lionel Messi and the rest of the team in the 2015 event. The other team Argentina plays in the group stage is a CONCACAF championship team.
Ecuador, Venezuela, and Jamaica are all in front of Mexico. None of those three teams are traditional powers, but they are some of the best teams in their leagues right now. After six games, both Venezuela and Ecuador are in the top half of the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying standings. Jamaica won every game in the CONCACAF Nations League and then beat Canada in the playoffs to make it to the Copa America.
Last but not least, Brazil has to play Colombia, which just beat the nine-time Copa America champions in World Cup qualification. Even though the Copa America isn’t until months from now, Brazil is already dealing with injuries to important players that could hurt their chances of making it to the finals. The Selecao will also play Paraguay and the winner of the other CONCACAF playoff. Those people are not at all easy to deal with.
Argentina plays a CONCACAF playoff team in Atlanta on June 20, which is the first game of the event.
The Copa América 2024
These links will help you get ready for Copa!
- Plan for the Copa América: A list of all the games that will be played in the 2024 event
- These Groups: We have broken down each Copa América group.
- Tournament Bracket: Use our free, printed Copa bracket to keep track of the action.
