We’re going to see plenty of football this summer, with both the Euros and the Copa America starting in June.
The Copa America would be played in Brazil due to COVID restrictions in Argentina and Colombia.
This would be the 48th edition of the Copa America.
Group A is going to be an interesting group with big teams like Argentina and Uruguay. Both of these teams are legitimate contenders for the trophy. Both of them have pretty great teams, so it’ll be very interesting.
Chile has also been great lately in the tournament. They have won two out of the last three editions of this tournament.
Out of both groups, this is the one with the most combined Copa America titles with 34 titles amongst the 5 teams.
Argentina is the favorite to win this group but Uruguay can give them a tough run because of how much effort they put in the field.
As for the other teams, Paraguay and Bolivia aren’t the strongest on paper but they do pose a great challenge to the big teams, and who knows, maybe we might see an upset or two during the group stage.
So, without much delay, let’s take a deep dive into the teams from group A, and see how well they may or may not do.
GROUP A – ARGENTINA
Argentina is one of the most successful teams in this tournament. They have participated in 42 editions and won it 14 times, being the country with the second most titles, only one behind Uruguay. They won it three times in a row (1945, 1946, 1947) and two times in a row in the following years: 1927-1929, 1957-1959, and 1991-1993.
Their last Copa America title was in 1993 when they beat Mexico 2-1. They have advanced to the final four times since that year but they haven’t been able to win any of them. This group of incredibly talented players is expected to win a trophy at some point and this tournament could be a big opportunity for them.
ARGENTINA TEAM INFO
- Manager – Lionel Scaloni
- Captain – Lionel Messi
- Key Players – Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, Lautaro Martinez, Leandro Paredes
- FIFA Ranking – 8th Place
- Prediction – Final with high possibilities of lifting the trophy
- First match – vs Chile on June 14th
Argentina Expected Squad for the Tournament
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Juan Musso (Udinese), Agustín Marchesín (Porto), Franco Armani (River Plate)
Defenders: Juan Foyth (Villarreal), German Pezzella (Fiorentina), Nicolás Otamendi (Benfica), Nicolás Tagliafico (Ajax), Marcos Acuña (Sevilla), Cristian Romero (Atalanta), Lisandro Martinez (Ajax), Jose Luis Palomino (Atalanta), Lucas Martinez Quarta (Fiorentina), Nahuel Molina (Udinese), Gonzalo Montiel (River Plate)
Midfielders: Leandro Paredes (PSG), Guido Rodríguez (Real Betis), Rodrigo de Paul (Udinese), Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Nicolás Domínguez (Bologna), Emiliano Buendía (Norwich City), Nicolás González (Stuttgart), Lucas Ocampos (Sevilla), Julian Alvarez (River Plate)
Forwards: Ángel Di María (PSG), Joaquín Correa (Lazio), Papu Gómez (Sevilla), Ángel Correa (Atletico Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Lautaro Martínez (Inter), Sergio Agüero (Barcelona), Lucas Alario (Bayer Leverkusen)
GROUP A – URUGUAY
Uruguay is well known to be one of the toughest teams to beat in South America. Their passion and the effort that goes into the game is unique and makes them the hardest team to defeat.
For this tournament, they lost some of their experienced players but have a lot of young talent that will help them quite a bit.
Los Charruas are the country with the most titles (15) in the history of the tournament. They have participated 43 times in the tournament.
Their last Copa America title was in 2011 when they beat Paraguay 3-0.
URUGUAY TEAM INFO
- Manager – Óscar Washington Tabárez
- Captain – Diego Godín
- Key Players – Luis Suárez, Federico Valverde, Diego Godín
- FIFA Ranking – 9th place
- Prediction – Semifinals
- First Match – vs Argentina on June 18th
Uruguay Expected Squad for the Tournament
Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray), Martín Campaña (Al-Batin), Sergio Rochet (Nacional)
Diego Godín (Cagliari), José María Giménez (Atletico Madrid), Sebastián Coates (Sporting CP), Ronald Araújo (Barcelona), Martín Cáceres (Fiorentina), Giovanni González (Peñarol), Matías Viña (Palmeiras), Joaquín Piquerez (Peñarol)
Lucas Torreira (Atletico Madrid), Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus), Matías Vecino (Inter), Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Fernando Gorriarán (Santos Laguna), Nahitan Nandez (Cagliari), Brian Rodríguez (Almería), Nicolá de la Cruz (River Plate)
Jonathan Rodriguez (Cruz Azul), Giorgian De Arrascaeta (Flamengo), Facundo Torres (Peñarol), Juan Ignacio Ramírez (Liverpool Montevideo), Luis Suárez (Atletico Madrid), Edinson Cavani (Manchester United)
GROUP A – CHILE
La Roja saw their best generation of footballers lift the trophy two times in the last three editions. They only have two titles in the history of the tournament, which they won in 2015 and 2016, beating Argentina via penalties in both finals. They did manage to get into the semifinals last time around, but they lost 3-0 to Perú.
They’ve played in 38 editions of the tournament and have finished in the top four 22 times. This Copa America is going to be somehow difficult for Chile since their golden generation is a thing of the past. They have many new faces, including a new manager.
CHILE TEAM INFO
- Manager – Martin Lasarte
- Captain – Claudio Bravo
- Key Players – Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez, Claudio Bravo, Charles Aranguiz
- FIFA Ranking – 19th place
- Prediction – Quarter-finals
- First Match – vs Argentina on June 14th
Chile Expected Squad for the Tournament
Claudio Bravo (Real Betis), Gabriel Arias (Racing Club), Brayan Cortes (Colo-Colo)
Oscar Opazo (Colo-Colo), Paulo Diaz (River Plate), Sebastian Vegas (Monterrey), Alfonso Parot (Universidad Católica), Gary Medel (Bologna), Jean Beausejour (Coquimbo Unido), Enzo Rocco (Fatih Karagümrük)
Arturo Vidal (Inter), Cesar Pinares (Grêmio), Jose Pedro Fuenzalida (Universidad Católica), Charles Aranguiz (Bayer Leverkusen), Claudio Baeza (Toluca), Angelo Sagal (Denizlispor), Eric Pulgar (Fiorentina), Diego Valdes (Santos Laguna)
Forwards: Alexis Sanchez (Inter), Eduardo Vargas (Atlético Mineiro), Fabian Orellana (Real Valladolid), Angelo Henriquez (Universidad de Chile), Jean Menezes (León)
GROUP A – PARAGUAY
Paraguay has won Copa America in 1953 and 1979. They have finished in the top four 22 times. Interesting fact: they’re known for getting into the final phases with a lot of draws! In the 2011 edition they went through on third spot with 3 draws out of 3 games. They also drew their quarter-final and semi-final games but won both in penalties.
In 2015, something similar happened when they drew two games out of their three in the group stage and then went to draw their quarterfinal game and won it in penalties against Brazil. Then, they lost in the semifinal against Argentina 6-1.
Their last title was in 1979 when they defeated Chile in the final.
PARAGUAY TEAM INFO
First Match –
v
s Bolivia on June 14th
Paraguay Expected Squad for the Tournament
Roberto Fernández (Botafogo), Miguel Martínez (Cerro Porteño), Alfredo Aguilar (Club Olimpia), Gerardo Ortiz (Once Caldas), Antony Silva (Puebla)
Fabián Balbuena (West Ham United), Bruno Valdez (América), Omar Alderete (Hertha BSC), Gustavo Gómez (Palmeiras), Júnior Alonso (Atlético Mineiro), Santiago Arzamendia (Cerro Porteño), Blas Riveros (Brøndby), Jorge Moreira (River Plate), Iván Piris (Libertad), Alberto Espínola (Cerro Porteño)
Gastón Giménez (Chicago Fire), Andrés Cubas (Nîmes), Ramón Martínez (Libertad), Richard Sánchez (América), Mathías Villasanti (Cerro Porteño), Jorge Morel (Guaraní), Ángel Cardozo Lucena (Cerro Porteño), Christhian Paredes (Portland Timbers), Miguel Almirón (Newcastle United), Matías Rojas (Racing), Óscar Romero (San Lorenzo)
Lorenzo Melgarejo (Racing), Braian Samudio (Çaykur Rizespor), Ángel Romero (San Lorenzo), Derlis González (Olimpia), Antonio Sanabria (Torino), Darío Lezcano (Juárez), Raúl Bobadilla (Fluminense)
GROUP A – BOLIVIA
Bolivia has always been considered as one of the ‘weaker’ national teams in the continent despite giving in good performances in the qualifiers at home in La Paz.
In Copa America, they haven’t displayed many good performances, They have participated in 26 editions of the tournament, having won it one time in 1963. They were also runner-ups in 1997.
BOLIVIA TEAM INFO
First match –
v
s Paraguay on June 14th
Bolivia Expected Squad for the Tournament
Carlos Lampe (Always Ready), Javier Rojas (Bolívar), Ruben Cordano (Bolívar)
Diego Bejarano (Bolívar), Oscar Ribera (Blooming), Luis Haquín (Melipilla), Jairo Quinteros (Bolívar), Luis Barbosa (Aurora), Adrian Jusino (AEL), José Sagredo (The Strongest), Enrique Flores (Bolívar)
Ramiro Vaca (The Strongest), Erwin Saavedra (Bolívar), Diego Wayar (The Strongest), Leonel Justiniano (Bolívar), Erwin Junior Sanchez (Blooming), Boris Cespedes (Servette), Juan Carlos Arce (Bolívar), Roberto Fernandez (Bolívar), Moises Villarroel (Jorge Wilstermann)
Jeyson Chura (The Strongest), Henry Vaca (The Strongest), Marcelo Moreno Martins (Cruzeiro), Luis Ramallo (Always Ready), Jaume Cuellar (S.P.A.L.), Gilbert Alvarez (Jorge Wilstermann)
Who do you think will win Copa America? Which team will crash out in the group stage? Let us know in the comments below!