Everything To Know About the Copa América Group Stage
Uruguay Dominates, USA Falters, and a Major Sensation is a Reality.
Several teams have already qualified for the tournament’s knockout stage, including the top sensation – Venezuela.
The highly anticipated opening match of Copa América 2024 took place at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, USA, in front of more than 70,000 spectators. World champions Argentina began their quest for another Copa América title with a 2-0 victory over Canada.
This was followed by a narrow 1-0 win over Chile, sending Messi and company to the knockout stage.
However, dark clouds loomed over the team after the win against Chile when it was revealed that star player Leo Messi had sustained an injury. He is certain to miss the last group stage match against Peru and is questionable for the upcoming quarterfinal.
After a poor start against Argentina, Canada made a big step towards advancing by achieving their historic first Copa América win with a 1-0 victory over Peru in a dull match remembered for an incident.
Shortly before the end of the first half, assistant referee Humberto Panoy collapsed, likely due to the high temperatures in Kansas City.
Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau was the first to assist the referee, followed by medical staff entering the field.
Thanks to the doctors’ swift and adequate intervention, the referee was discharged from the hospital and sent for home treatment.
The incident raised many questions, with several experts expressing that playing matches in high temperatures is inappropriate. The mercury in Kansas reached 36 degrees Celsius.
Thus, in Group “A,” Argentina is in first place with 6 points, Canada is second with 3 points, while Chile and Peru, after their 1-1 draw, are third and fourth with 1 point each.
Group “B” witnessed the first major sensation of the tournament.
Considered a football dwarf, Venezuela qualified for the knockout stage even before the end of the group stage.
After shocking Ecuador in the first round with a 2-1 victory despite trailing 0-1, Venezuela won a dramatic 1-0 match against Mexico, securing their group lead before their final match against the already eliminated Jamaica.
The second place in the group will be decided in the direct clash between Mexico and Ecuador, both with 3 points so far. Both teams inflicted defeats on Jamaica, with Mexico winning 1-0 and Ecuador playing exciting attacking football to win 3-1.
Before the last group matches, Venezuela led with 6 points, followed by Ecuador with 3 points and Mexico with 3 points. Jamaica is at the bottom with no points.
Uruguay proved to be one of the favorites of Copa América with a 5-0 thrashing of Bolivia in Group “C.”
With this convincing victory, Marcelo Bielsa’s team topped the group. It practically ensured their advancement to the next phase, having been uncompromising in their first group match with a 3-1 win against Panama.
Panama, however, did not seem intimidated by their initial loss and dealt a severe blow to the USA’s ambitions by defeating them 2-1. The tournament hosts had beaten Bolivia 2-0 in the previous round, and everyone expected a smooth qualification.
The Panamanians shattered these plans.
VAR intervened twice to reach this result, first cancelling a goal for the Americans and later issuing a red card to Timothy Weah for an off-the-ball incident.
Nerves at the end led to a red card for a Panamanian player, but it was too late for the USA to avoid defeat.
This made it almost certain that Uruguay, the record holder of tournament titles, would advance, as they had three points more than the second and third-place teams, USA and Panama, respectively. The tournament format favours teams with a better goal difference.
Given the USA’s blunder, Uruguay can even afford a loss in the final round and still finish on top.
In the last group, “D,” we also had a team that secured a place in the next phase after two matches.
Colombia, with victories of 2-1 over Paraguay and 3-0 against Costa Rica, qualified for the knockout stage of Copa América.
Another favorite in this group and the entire tournament, Brazil, achieved their first win with a 4-1 thrashing of Paraguay after failing to beat Costa Rica and drawing 0-0 due to numerous missed chances by the Brazilians.
The last round in this group promises to be very exciting, with Colombia facing Brazil.
The Colombians have a two-point lead and will win the group if they avoid defeat. Costa Rica is at the bottom with one point, and Paraguay has no points.
Both teams appear doomed, and it would take a miracle for Costa Rica to overtake Brazil for a place in the tournament’s next stage.
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