Who are the giants of the Americas? Copa América Preview
By Ryan Brolly
Feel like there is not enough football now the domestic European season is over? Fear not, the Copa America is set to begin Thursday June 20th creating a situation where the UEFA Euros games feed into Copa America scheduling meaning you can sit from 2pm to 2am during the group stages enjoying the best of what the world's most successful footballing continents have to offer.
Argentina come into this tournament as World Champions following their World Cup win in Qatar in 2022, they are also defending their Copa America crown as favourites to retain and win the tournament at the stadium of NFL team the Miami Dolphins on July 14th. The usual suspects are also heavily in contention; Brazil and Uruguay but with the addition of the North American hosts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup into the mix could they cause problems in this tournament? I have gathered three nations to keep watch for heading into the competition.
Ecuador:
Ecuador come into the tournament led by Félix Sánchez Bas having had a good run in 2023 mainly focused on their qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, this campaign has already seen victories against the heavily fancied Uruguay and against Bolivia in La Paz which is a difficult away game due to the sheer altitude at which Bolivia play making them always the favourites at home even against the best nations. Ecuador has serious potential and talent within their ranks coming into this tournament in defence they have Bundesliga defensive duo Piero Hincapie of invincibles Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt centre-back Willian Pacho. Independiente del Valle wonderkid Kendry Paez has made the Copa America squad, born in 2007 he is the next big thing in Ecuador, he will likely not see many starts but someone who will is former Independiente del Valle player Moisés Caicedo who transferred to Chelsea last season for £115m. The front line will be headed by veteran striker Enner Valencia formerly of West Ham United and Everton; he is Ecuador’s top scorer of all time and will be looking for a good campaign to end his international career in what will likely be his last tournament.
Costa Rica:
Costa Rica is another of the guests joining the Copa America for this tournament, eligible by winning a qualifier against Honduras; they have been drawn in the Group of Death vs Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay. This is not uncharted territory for Los Ticos, if we cast our minds back to the 2014 FIFA World Cup they managed to top Group D against Uruguay, Italy and England. They will be looking for similar fortune again in the United States and have won various World Cup qualifying matches in preparation, these are competitive games, unlike the friendlies other nations are engaging in currently. Icon of Costa Rican football Joel Campbell will be starting once more, playing football domestically again the former Arsenal attacker will be hoping to catch attention of his talents around the Americas as at 31 he still has lots to give to the club game. He will be playing behind Kenneth Vargas who plies his trade in the Scottish Premiership for Hearts of Midlothian where he scored nine and assisted four in the 23/24 campaign. There is also a strong core of players from the MLS and considering the United States are hosting this tournament they should be comfortable with the conditions. However, not finishing last will be the main achievement here.
Panama:
Group C dark horses are Panama, they are another guest from CONCACAF who are coming off of a stellar CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign in 2023 where they reached the final only being beaten by Mexico 1-0. During that campaign, they managed to hold the United States to a 1-1 draw beating them on penalties, and have since beaten another of their group mates Bolivia away in Cochabamba. They have proved that they have the better of their group mates and they have only lost twice since their final defeat in July 2023. Panama has some European talent in their ranks in the form of full-back Michael Murillo who plays for Marseille in Ligue 1 ahead of him on the win José Luis Rodriguez plays for Famalicao in Liga Portugal. The squad is also fleshed out with various talents from the MLS and Liga MX which should give them a decent chance of squeaking into the top two in Group C.
Ryan Brolly is Sport Editor at The Scoop