Now we get to the second group of Copa America: Group B, which, in my opinion, is a bit tougher than Group A. It has nations like Brazil and Colombia who have been dominant in the past years. There are also countries like Perú, Venezuela, and Ecuador who all have a lot of young talent.
This group accumulates 12 Copas America titles which is not a lot but as of now, all the teams are very dangerous.
It is hard to say which teams would go through if I’m honest. While there are a couple of teams that can be considered favorites to go through to the knockout stages, I still think the competition is much tougher in deciding the remaining two spots. Most of the teams look to be challenging.
You can talk about which team is better on paper, but in tournaments like this, “on paper” doesn’t matter as much.
Brazil should easily win the group since they’re the country with the most experience in the group. They have dominated South American football for years, and based on the kind of talent they have, they will continue to do so in the present and future as well.
So, without further adieu, let’s get to the group, and analyze the teams, one by one.
GROUP B – BRAZIL
Brazil is known for its Jogo Bonito and the quality of its skilled players. For this tournament, they bring a squad full of young talent but also with some of the best players in the world like Neymar, Thiago Silva, and Marquinhos.
Brazil has won this competition nine times and has been runner up 11 times. They have participated in 36 editions of the tournament.
They are always the favorites to lift the trophy and the team to beat in the tournament. They won the last Copa America against Perú in 2019 with a 3-1 result. They have won three out of the last seven Copas Americas, showing complete dominance in the continent.
BRAZIL TEAM INFO
- Manager – Tite
- Captain – Thiago Silva
- Key Players – Neymar, Casemiro, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva
- FIFA Ranking – 3rd place
- Prediction – Semifinals at least
- First Match – Vs Venezuela on June 13th
Brazil Expected Squad for the Tournament
Alisson (Liverpool), Ederson (Manchester City), Weverton (Palmeiras)
Dani Alves (Sau Paulo), Danilo (Juventus), Alex Sandro (Juventus), Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid), Éder Militão (Real Madrid), Lucas Veríssimo (Benfica), Marquinhos (PSG), Thiago Silva (Chelsea)
Casemiro (Real Madrid), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Everton Ribeiro (Flamengo), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paquetá (Lyon)
Everton (Benfica), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Gabigol (Flamengo), Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Neymar Jr (PSG), Richarlison (Everton), Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)
GROUP B – COLOMBIA
Colombia, a country that has had some good footballing years in the past decade, hasn’t been able to lift the trophy even once in that timespan. They have one of the best generations of players in the country’s history, but most of those players are nearing the end of their peak.
They finished third in 2016 but with the quality they have, they could’ve easily won the Copa America at least once in the past few years.
Los Cafeteros have won this tournament one time in 2001 when they beat Mexico 1-0 in the final. They’ve participated in it 22 times.
It’s going to be a difficult Copa America for Colombia since James Rodriguez is not fit for the tournament and will not play. Without their star, it is going to be a tough path for the Colombians.
COLOMBIA TEAM INFO
- Manager – Reinaldo Rueda
- Captain – David Ospina
- Key Players – Juan Cuadrado, Duván Zapata, Luis Muriel
- FIFA Ranking – 15th place
- Prediction – Quarter-finals
- First Match – Vs Ecuador on June 13th
Colombia Expected Squad for the Tournament
David Ospina (Napoli), Camilo Vargas (Atlas Guadalajara), Álvaro Montero (Deportes Tolima), Aldair Quintana (Atlético Nacional)
Davinson Sánchez (Tottenham), Yerry Mina (Everton), Jhon Lucumí (Genk), Jeison Murillo (Celta Vigo), William Tesillo (Club Leon), Óscar Murillo (Pachuca), Pablo Ortiz (Real de Minas), Yairo Moreno (Club Leon), Johan Mojica (Elche), Juan Cuadrado (Juventus), Daniel Muñoz (Genk), Stefan Medina (Monterrey)
Wilmar Barrios (Zenit), Mateus Uribe (Porto), Jefferson Lerma (Bournemouth), Gustavo Cuéllar (Al-Hilal), Luis Díaz (Porto)
Jhon Vásquez (Deportivo Cali), Duván Zapata (Atalanta), Luis Muriel (Atalanta), Rafael Santos Borré (River Plate), Alfredo Morelos (Rangers), Luis Suárez (Granada)
GROUP B – PERU
Perú has given the continent many surprises in previous years. In the last edition of Copa America, they reached the final unexpectedly, but deservingly. A little while before that, they also qualified for the 2018 World Cup, which no one really expected. They will try to keep surprising the continent in this year’s tournament.
They have won the Copa America two times, the last time being in 1975. They were runners up in 2019, and have been third place in eight editions, including in 2011 and 2015.
They have been in the last four in 3 out of the 4 last editions of Copa America. They have participated 32 times in this tournament.
PERU TEAM INFO
- Manager – Ricardo Gareca
- Captain – Paolo Guerrero
- Key Players – Renato Tapia, Raúl Ruidíaz, Paolo Guerrero
- FIFA Rankings – 27th place
- Prediction – Quarter-finals
- First Match – Vs Brazil on June 17th
Peru Provisional Squad for the Tournament
Carlos Cáceda (Melgar), José Carvallo (Universitario de Deportes), Pedro Gallese (Orlando City), Renato Solís (Sporting Cristal)
Luis Advíncula (Rayo Vallecano), Alexander Callens (New York City), Jhilmar Lora (Sporting Cristal), Aarón Sánchez (Academia Deportiva Cantolao), Luis Abram (Atlético Vélez Sarsfield), Aldo Corzo (Universitario de Deportes), Nilson Loyola (Goiás), Anderson Santamaría (Atlas Guadalajara), Kluiverth Aguilar (Alianza Lima), Josué Estrada (Universidad Técnica de Cajamarca), Christian Ramos (Universidad César Vallejo), Miguel Trauco (AS Saint-Étienne), Miguel Araujo (Emmen), Renzo Garcés (Universidad César Vallejo), Paolo Reyna (Melgar), Carlos Zambrano (Boca Juniors), Marcos López (San Jose Earthquakes), Jean-Pierre Rhyner (Emmen)
Wilder Cartagena (Godoy Cruz), André Carrillo (Al-Hilal), Christofer Gonzáles (Sporting Cristal), Erinson Ramírez (Deportivo Municipal), Pedro Aquino (América), Gabriel Costa (Colo-Colo), Luis Iberico (Melgar), Joel Sánchez (Melgar), Alexis Arias (Melgar), Christian Cueva (Al-Fateh), Jorge Murrugarra (Universitario de Deportes), Renato Tapia (Celta Vigo), Christian Benavente (Charleroi), David Dioses (Deportivo Municipal), Christofer Olivares (Sporting Cristal), Martín Távara (UTC Cajamarca), Horacio Calcaterra (Sporting Cristal), Edison Flores (D.C. United), Sergio Peña (Emmen), Yoshimar Yotún (Cruz Azul), Raziel García (Scienceno)
Jefferson Farfán (Alianza Lima), Gianluca Lapadula (Benevento Calcio), Aldair Rodríguez (América de Cali), Paolo Guerrero (Sport Club Internacional), Santiago Ormeño (León), Raúl Ruidíaz (Seattle Sounders FC), Alex Valera (Universitario de Deportes)
GROUP B – VENEZUELA
La Vinotinto, alongside Ecuador, are the only South American countries that haven’t won a Copa America. It’s been a lot of years of disappointment for Venezuelans. I know that because I’m one of them. Just when we think that the team is going to do better, the players don’t deliver on the field.
Venezuela has participated 18 times in the tournament and has only won 8 games out of 66.
Their best appearance was in 2011 when they lost in penalties against Paraguay in the semifinals and then proceeded to lose the game for third place against Perú 4-1.
La Vinotinto has a lot of quality. Many of their players are in good teams from Europe, the United States, and Brazil. This generation is probably one of their best in history but they just can’t seem to deliver on the field. Also, the political situation of the country, which is not too good, has affected their performances.
In this year’s Copa America, though, La Vinotinto can do some damage, even though 3 of their players (Yordan Osorio, Yangel Herrera, and Yeferson Soteldo) are injured. It is very likely they would not feature in this year’s Copa America.
I think Venezuela can do a solid job this year but it depends on who they face in the quarter-finals if they’re able to get past the group stage.
VENEZUELA TEAM INFO
- Manager – Jose Peseiro
- Captain – Tomas Rincón
- Key Players – Josef Martínez, Wuilker Fariñez, Tomas Rincón, Darwin Machis
- FIFA Ranking – 30th place
- Prediction – Quarter-finals
- First game – Vs Brazil on June 13th
Venezuela Provisional Squad for the Tournament
Wuilker Fariñez (RC Lens), Alain Baroja (Delfín), José Contreras (Deportivo Pasto), Joel Graterol (América de Cali), Rafael Romo (Oud-Heverlee Leuven)
Wilker Ángel (Akhmat Grozny), Jhon Chancellor (Brescia Calcio), Luis Mago (Club Universidad de Chile), Rolf Feltscher (Würzburger Kickers), Nahuel Ferraresi (Moreirense), Alexander González (Malaga), Ronald Hernández (Atlanta United), Yordan Osorio (Parma), Roberto Rosales (Leganes), Mikel Villanueva (CD Santa Clara)
Cristian Cásseres Jr. (New York Red Bulls), Yangel Herrera (Granada), Darwin Machís (Granada), José Martínez (Philadelphia Union), Junior Moreno (D.C. United), Jhon Murillo (CD Tondela), Romulo Otero (Corinthians), Tomás Rincón (Torino FC), Jefferson Savarino (Atlético Mineiro), Yeferson Soteldo (Toronto FC), Freddy Vargas (FC Dallas)
Fernando Aristiguieta (Mazatlán), Jhonder Cádiz (Nashville), Sergio Córdova (Arminia Bielefeld), Jan Hurtado, Josef Martínez (Atlanta United), Daniel Pérez (Club Brugge), Eric Ramirez (Rubin Kazan), Salomón Rondón (Dalian Professional)
GROUP B – ECUADOR
As we mentioned before, Ecuador is one of the only two South American countries with no Copa America trophies. They have participated 28 times and their best appearance was fourth place in 1959 and 1993.
Ecuador would try to do some damage this Copa America but I don’t think they have enough to do big things in this tournament.
They have a young team and a new generation who looks promising, but they’re just not there yet. They’re just not good enough to compete with the big teams yet.
ECUADOR TEAM INFO
- Manager – Gustavo Alfaro
- Captain – Enner Valencia
- Key Players – Enner Valencia, Gonzalo Plata, Ángel Mena
- FIFA Ranking – 53rd place
- Prediction – Group Stage
- First Match – Vs Colombia on June 13th
Ecuador Expected Squad for the Tournament
Pedro Ortíz (CS Emelec), Hernán Galíndez (CD Universidad Católica), Alexander Domínguez (Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield), Moisés Ramirez (Independiente del Valle)
Felix Torres (Santos Laguna), Robert Arboleda (Sao Paulo), Xavier Arreaga (Seattle Sounders FC), Luis León (Barcelona S.C), Pervis Estupiñan (Villarreal), Diego Palacios (Los Angeles FC), Mario Pineida (Barcelona S.C), Piero Hincapié (Club Atlético Talleres), Ángelo Preciado (Genk), Pedro Perlaza (LDU Quito)
Christian Noboa (FC Sochi), Jhegson Méndez (Orlando City SC), Moisés Caicedo (Brighton & Hove Albion), Dixon Arroyo (CS Emelec), Alan Franco (Atlético Mineiro), Carlos Gruezo (FC Augsburg), Ángel Mena (Club León), Fidel Martínez (Club Tijuana), Damián Díaz (Barcelona SC), Juan Cazares (Fluminense), Gonzalo Plata (Sporting CP), Ayrton Preciado (Santos Laguna), Jose Carabalí (CD Universidad Católica)
Enner Valencia (Fenerbahce SK), Michael Estrada (Deportivo Toluca), Jordy Caicedo (CSKA-Sofia), Leonardo Campana (FC Famalicão)
Which team do you think will get eliminated from the group? Let us know in the comments below!