South America has one of the strongest continental tournaments on the planet: Brazil and Argentina are constant contenders for the world title, but the so-called “second tier” doesn’t lose face either. In 2024, a landing party in the form of the best North American teams was also invited to the Copa – it is debatable whether this increases the average level of competition, but in any case it will be interesting.
To make watching the Copa America even more interesting, go to melbet Kenya and place your bets. We will look at how bookmakers assess the chances of the main contenders for the trophy.
Argentina – 2.75
Lionel Messi’s team stands out among its competitors in terms of the number of titles – the Argentines have become the best team of the continent 15 times. Uruguay has the same achievement, but they had more attempts. At the same time, Argentina is the current champion of both South America and the whole world: it won its third cup in Qatar. In a word, a formidable force.
A year and a half has passed since the final match of the Qatar World Cup, but here are two arguments in favor of the fact that the Argentines have not become weaker:
- maintain first place in the FIFA rankings;
- are leading the South American selection for the 2026 World Cup.
In their last ten games, Argentina have defeated every opponent except Uruguay. But on the Kop the start will be very easy – the Argentines are unlikely to be afraid of the pale and expressionless Chileans and Peruvians, and Canada looks formidable only within North America.
Brazil – 3.25
The Brazilian national team played all last year under the leadership of a temporary worker, and showed such a game that even loyal fans probably wanted to turn off the TV. In their last ten meetings, the Seleção (five-time world champions and nine-time Copa America winners) have been beaten four times – by Senegal, Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina. Most offenders are competitors both in qualifying for the World Cup (where the Brazilians are only sixth) and at the 2024 summer tournament.
Dorival Junior, who took over the team in January, immediately faced indiscriminate criticism – they say it was not the level of the national team. This coach really does not have a big name, but in the March freight trains he slightly corrected the statistics of the current form – they beat the English, albeit minimally, and saved a draw in the match with the Spaniards. This looks more like pentacampeons.
In the group, Brazil faces a very serious opponent in the form of the hot Colombia, but Costa Rica and Paraguay are unlikely to be very ambitious.
Uruguay – 6.0
In the eternal South American confrontation between Argentina and Brazil, the role of the third force most often goes to Uruguay. In fact, this team often played first fiddle – the Uruguayans won the World Championships twice (and played in the semi-finals three more times), and in terms of the number of victories at the America’s Cup they share first place with Argentina, and three years ago they were considered historically the most successful in continental forums.
A great story is wonderful, but the Uruguayan team hasn’t won dust for a long time: they won their last trophy in 2011. It’s time to return to the big game, especially since they show confident play in the South American qualification for the World Cup and come second. Group rivals – The USA, Bolivia and Panama may have their own ambitions, but on paper only the Americans can impose a serious fight on Uruguay.
Colombia – 12.0
Compared to the contenders listed above, fed up with various trophies and titles, the Colombian national team looks like a poor relative – it only became the champion of the continent once, and took silver once more. But this does not mean that the Colombians are weak – right now they look very lively, and they probably want to at least repeat the achievement of the last Copa, where they got bronze. Another thing is that this team already has five bronze medal sets (including the one won in the previous edition), which means that you can dream of something more expensive.
Bookmakers would probably rate Colombia’s chances of winning the continental tournament even higher if they showed more consistency. The Colombian team, as a Copa America semi-finalist, did not make it to the Qatari World Cup – now they don’t believe so much in it, coming third in qualifying for the World Cup. But Costa Rica and Paraguay are unlikely to be strongly against the Colombians leaving the group for the playoffs, and the Brazilians just need to settle accounts for the first or second. Confidence in their abilities is given by the fact that in their last ten games they have not lost a single defeat.
Mexico – 12.0
North American teams were invited to the traditionally South American tournament, first of all, for the sake of Mexico – this is historically the best team of their confederation. In 2024, the Mexicans qualified for the competition thanks to qualifying matches, and before that they were called “out of competition” ten times, simply in order to recruit three groups of four participants from ten South American teams.
At the same time, the Aztecs do not have any truly serious achievements – we will not take into account the pogroms of “children” in North America. After every second participation in the Copa America, the Mexicans found themselves on the podium (two silver, three bronze), but did not become champions. Current form, with recent losses to Honduras, Colombia and the USA, does not inspire much optimism, but Mexico could reach a new level of motivation given the status of the tournament. At the same time, problems may arise already in the group – not from Jamaica, of course, but you should beware of Ecuador and Venezuela.
Conclusion
This tournament will once again come down to a choice between Argentina and Brazil. The Argentines look preferable in the context of how they have been playing lately, but there is always room for an unexpected result in one match. And then, you see, Uruguay will impose competition…
