Copa America - Overview

Brazil are main favorites to win the Copa America, but it won't be an easy job for them, as Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and Chile also come with high expectations to this tournament. Find out more about the oldest international continental competition in ProTipster's preview…

CONMEBOL Copa America

CONMEBOL Copa America is a men’s international football tournament contested between national teams from CONMEBOL. It is the oldest international continental competition. The competition determines the continental champion of South America. As CONMEBOL has only 10 members since 1990s, teams from North America and Asia have also been invited to participate.

The 2019 Copa America will be the 46th edition of the Copa America. Uruguay have won record 15 titles, followed by Argentina with 14 and Brazil with 8. No other team have won more than two titles, while Venezuela and Ecuador are only South American team that have never won the Copa America. Chile are two-time defending champions, having won the 2015 and 2016 editions of the tournament.

The 2019 Copa America will be hosted by Brazil. The tournament will be contested by 12 teams, ten from South America with two guest teams being Qatar and Japan from AFC.

The tournament will be hosted by five cities (Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre) and six stadiums (two in Sao Paulo). The opening match will be held at the Estadio do Morumbi in Sao Paulo, the semi finals will be held at the Arena do Gremio in Porto Alegre and Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizonte, and the final will be held at the Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

Twelve teams will be divided in three groups, with the winners and runners-up of each group and two best third-placed teams among all groups advance to the quarter-finals.

Favourites

It is no surprise that Brazil are considered as main favorites to lift the trophy at 2,10. Brazil will have the home field advantage and at the moment they’re the best South American side on FIFA ranking (they hold 3rd place). Beside that, under Tite, Brazil have really be excellent during last two years. The hosts will be led by their stars like Neymar, Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, Casemiro and others, but Tite have also made couple of surprising additions (Allan, Ede Militao, David Neres…). Brazil will play in Group A alongside Bolivia, Venezuela and Peru, so they shouldn’t have any problems of qualifying easily for the quarter-finals.

Argentina are considered as the second favorite of the tournament at 5,50. The Argentines are led by the world’s best player Leo Messi, although we have to mention that they haven’t win anything with him so far. After a disappointing World Cup Argentina will try to do something in Brazil. When you have players like Messi, Aguero, Dybala, Di Maria and De Celso it is no surprise that you’re considered as one of the favorites, but Argentina have struggled to go to the end at big tournaments in recent years. La Albiceleste will play in Group B with Colombia, Paraguay and Qatar, so their place in quarter-final should not be questioned.

Finally, Uruguay are considered as the third favorites to win the Copa America at 8,00. Uruguay have very good side, but they’re coming to Brazil without Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, so that could be a huge blow for them. They will play in very tough Group C with Japan, Chile and Ecuador, so their way to the quarter-finals will not be a walk in the park.

Weakest Sides

Bolivia and Qatar are probably the weakest sides in this tournament. Bolivia are traditionally the worst side in South America and they’re capable of some upsets only when they play high in Andean mountains. Here in Brazil they will probably go home after the group stage. Qatar are not considered a powerhouse even in AFC. They were invited to the Copa America as the hosts of the next World Cup, but realistically they are no match for teams at this tournament.

Dark Horse

Honestly, I think Brazil will win the title as they’re hosts and probably have the best squad at the tournament. If I would have to pick a dark horse, then I would go with Chile at 11,00. Chileans have won last two Copa Americas, so we can’t consider them total underdogs. They have missed the World Cup in Russia, but they have more than decent squad led by experienced veterans like Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal, Eduardo Vargas and Gary Medel. If they go through very difficult Group C they could be very dangerous in the knockout phase, as they know how to play this type of games. Their best players are getting older, but still they’re capable for surprise or two.

Betting on Copa America

At first we have to understand that South American teams know each other very well. Unlike UEFA, CONMEBOL have just 10 member federations, and those 10 national teams play against each other continually in the World Cup qualifications and Copa America. In the World Cup qualifications all ten teams are in one group playing each other twice.

As teams know each other, generally games are very tight, and often are decided by a single goal margin. Exception to this rule are Bolivians who are capable of losing with couple goals, as well as some invited teams like Qatar. On the other hand, Brazil are hosts, so they could be more convincing in the group stage of the tournament.

Generally some people consider South American football as technical with attractive play. This was maybe true 30-40 years ago, but nowadays most of the matches are real wars, especially when you have teams like Uruguay or Chile. Therefore, lot of unders should be expected.

Finally, we should take into account quite long distances between host cities, so some teams could travel quite a bit and that could be a factor too. For example, distance between southernmost city of Porto Alegre and northernmost Salvador is more than 3 thousand kilometers.