Copa America Preview and What to Expect for the Atlanta Matches

The Copa América is an international football tournament held every four years in which the national teams of South America compete to be voted the best team on the continent. Regular participants include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The Copa América also regularly invites national teams from countries other than South America. This year, the United States, Mexico, Panama, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Canada have all been invited. Matches are played across the country, in 13 different cities. Atlanta hosts two matches: the tournament opener, Argentina vs. Canada on June 20, and the United States vs. Panama on June 27.

The 2024 Copa America is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing in recent history, with most teams having a chance of coming out on top. Argentina leads the pack. Argentina are the favorites thanks to their victory at the 2022 World Cup and the last Copa America in 2021. They are led by good players, including one of the best of all time, Lionel Messi. Brazil are also favorites despite a weaker team than in previous years. The Brazilians are led by Vinicius Jr., who is arguably the best player in the world, and his dynamic Real Madrid teammate Rodrygo.

Despite not having the best team on paper, Colombia are perhaps the most in-form team in the tournament. Led by electric winger Luis Díaz, Colombia have not lost any of their 23 matches.

Uruguay expected a strong showing from their enigmatic striker Darwin Núñez and dynamic midfielder Federico Valverde. Finally, the last of the favorites is the United States. While not a traditional football powerhouse, the U.S. has plenty of talent, including captain Christian Pulisic and creative midfielder Gio Reyna. Even outside of the favorites, the tournament is full of some of the best players in the world.

The tournament opened in Atlanta with a match between Argentina and Canada. Argentina is one of the favorites to win the tournament, largely thanks to Messi. Canada is in the midst of a rebuild, having taken over a new manager, Jesse Marsch, earlier this year. The match started evenly, with both teams creating chances. Argentina eventually settled into the game, but failed to score. The best chance of the first half came from Argentina forward Ángel Di María, whose shot was smothered by Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau. Canada also had several good chances, but failed to pose a real threat to the Argentina goal. The score was still tied at nil at the end of the first half. Canada was happier at halftime, with Argentina disappointed with their missed chances.

In the second half, Argentina immediately capitalized on their first opportunity as forward Julián Álvarez opened the scoring at 1-0 with a superb pass from midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. After trailing 1-0, Canada should have equalized in the second half, but their efforts fell short. With less than two minutes to go, Argentina secured the victory as forward Lautaro Martínez finished off a superb pass from Messi. Argentina opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Canada in hopes of winning the Copa América once again.

In the second and final match in Atlanta, the United States will face Panama. The United States are the heavy favorites in the match thanks to their dominance over North and Central American teams in recent encounters. However, they will face a Panamanian team that has not lost since their match against Trinidad and Tobago in November 2023. Panama are a team that can surprise anyone, having beaten the United States on penalties the last time they played. The United States team looks to dominate possession and allow Pulisic and Reyna to make the difference between the teams. But Panama likely intends to absorb the pressure from the United States. Once they do, they will be able to counterattack to snatch a victory against the run of play.

Overall, the 2024 Copa América will give the United States a chance to showcase its passion for soccer. This tournament will also be important for Atlanta: with just a year to go until the World Cup, the city can show why the U.S. national team is moving its headquarters to Georgia and prove that it is one of the country’s leading soccer cities.