(7/15/2024)

Championship Match

Argentina 1, Columbia 0

Columbia took the top spot in group D with 2 wins and a draw with Brazil to start their Copa America campaign. They then put on a scoring clinic in the quarters netting 5 goals against Panama and were the only team to not need a shootout to advance. The next match with Uruguay was closer but a 39th minute goal was enough to send them to their 3rd Copa America final. Oh ya and there is that 28-game unbeaten streak so it looked like they were flying high.

Enter Argentina, the last team to beat Columbia and arguably one of the greatest teams the soccer world has ever seen. After winning the last Copa America cup they added a World Cup title and will try to match Spain’s run of 3 Major Championships in a row. Argentina won group A with wins in all 3 matches and beat Ecuador 4-2 in a shootout to advance out of the quarterfinals. In the Semis it was a rematch with Canada ( 2nd in group A) whom Argentina beat 2-0 in the very first match of the tournament. The date was different but the result was the same: a 2-0 win for Argentina and a trip to the Copa America Finals.

The championship match was a knock down drag-out match that Copa America fans have become accustomed to seeing.  Columbia led in most statistical categories: shots (19-11) , corner kicks (7-4), possession (56%-44%), and fouls (18-8). It was Argentina that had the one stat that counts the most goals scored and it happened in the 112th minute,  when 26 year old striker Lautaro Martinez came off the bench and sealed the win scoring his 5th goal of the tournament. That goal secured Martinez the Golden Boot Award for most goals scored in the tournament this year.

With the win Argentina now has the most Copa America cups with 16 breaking the tie with Uruguay. It also cements them in history as one of the best groupings of soccer talent the world has seen. With Angel Di Maria retiring from international play and the injury to superstar Lionel Messi Argentina’s future is unknown but right now it’s party time in Buenos Aires as La Albiceleste bring home another major Trophy.

Third Place Match

Uruguay 2, Canada 2 Uruguay wins 4-3 in PKs

Coverage of the 3rd place match from USA Today can be found here

The group stage is done now it’s on to the quarterfinals all matches are win or go home from here on out. Below are the Quarter and Semi Final brackets. We will be updating the bracket after each round is finished. For the Full Group Table scroll to the bottom of the story.

Argentina gets another 2-0 win over Canada at Copa America continuing their title defense. Lionel Messi got his first goal of the tournament to put Argentina into the Championship match that will be played on Sunday.  Canada’s run at Copa America isn’t over; they play the 3rd place match against Uruguay on Saturday.

Columbia got a goal in the 39th minute of the first half against Uruguay. In the 45th minute Columbia had a player receive a red card and had to play the entire second half with 10 players on the field. Despite Uruguay’s constant pressure late in the match the 1-0 result held and now Columbia has a 28 game unbeaten streak (Thanks Sky) going into the Copa America Championship match against Argentina.

Knock out Rounds:

Group D Game 3

Brazil 1, Columbia 1
Both teams advance here is the story from BBC

Costa Rica 2, Paraguay 1
Here is a story from Foxsports on Costa Rica’s win

Group C Game 3

Uruguay 1, USA 0

The U-S needed two things to happen  to advance to the knockout stage of Copa America. One was getting a win or draw over 15 time Copa America Champion Uruguay. The other was Bolivia upsetting Panama or at least holding them to a tie. Both of those scenarios would have seen the U-S advance on points and goal differential but neither happened. 

The U-S withstood the early Uruguay attack that has given them leads in the first 2 games of the tournament. It was a physical match that saw players from both sides have to be subbed off for injuries, one of them being stand-out U-S Striker Folarin Balogun. With their top scorer out and a number of calls going against them the U-S rallied and went into halftime tied at 0-0. Meanwhile Panama and Bolivia the other group C match was being played at the same time and the crowd in the stadium and the U-S coaching staff knew the Canal Men had a 1-0 halftime lead.

The second half was just as physical if not more with both teams knowing what was on the line. The U-S had a few chances but it was Uruguay netting a goal in the 66th that changed everything. After several minutes of VAR review the goal was upheld while the commentators and fans at home saw the Uruguay player in an offside position, one of several odd calls throughout the match.

The U-S had a chance late in the game to score the equalizer when the Uruguay keeper got caught out of position and out of the box only to be turned away. In the end Panama beat Bolivia 3-1 erasing the goal differential and  leapfrogging the U-S for the final spot in group C to advance, ending their Copa America tournament earlier than expected.

Panama 3, Bolivia 1
For full coverage on Panama advancing here is a story from The Athletic

Group B Game 3

Venezuela 3, Jamaica 0
For coverage of Venezuela’s advancing here is a story from Reuters

Ecuador 0, Mexico 0
To read more here is the story from Arizona Sports

Group A Game 3

Canada 0, Chile 0
For the full story on Canada’s advancing here is the story from Sportsnet

Argentina 2, Peru 0
To read more about Argentina’s big win here is a story from USAToday

Group D Game 2

Brazil 4, Paraguay 1
For full coverage check out the story from The BBC here

Columbia 3, Costa Rica 0
To read more here is a story from The Dailymail

Group C Game 2

Panama 2, USA 1

(6/27/24) The U-S came into the match looking to secure a spot in the next round coming off a big win in game one.  The match started out with a bang 5 minutes in when Weston McKinnie scored off a Tim Ream pass only to have the  Video Assistant Referee (VAR) overturn the goal due to Ream being offsides.

Then in the 12th minute there was a collision in the 18-yard box that sent US Keeper Matt Turner to the ground hard that led to a bit of a delay. Six minutes later and another blow to the US when off ball antics has Tim Weah get a yellow card at first. Upon further review from the VAR Weah struck the Panama defender and was issued a red leaving the US down a man for the rest of the match.

In the 22nd minute fans of the host nation got a glimmer of hope off the left foot of Folarin Balogun putting the US up 1-0 for real this time. The joy was short lived as Panama scored the equalizer just 4 minutes later. The rest of the half saw the US pick up the defense and withstand a barrage of attempts from The Canal Men ending the half in a 1-1 tie.

Coach Gregg Berhalter made 3 subs coming out of the half most notably was Ethan Horvath in goal as Turner was unable to go. Horvath was tested early with a rocket of a shot sent his way only to deflect and smother the attempt. In the 64th minute it was Panama’s turn to be disappointed by VAR calling off a potential go ahead penalty kick after a flop in the US box.

The Stars and Stripes were pressed into playing a defend and counter style late in the game down a man for a majority of the match. That style almost worked in the 81st minute when Weston McKinnie found a streaking Ricardo Pepi whose glancing header was stopped short by the Panama goalie. That gut punch was followed by the knockout blow in the 83rd when Jose Fajardo sealed the match with a quick shot that went off the hands of second half keeper Horvath and into the back of the net for the 2-1 final score.

The loss forces the U-S into a must win against 15 time Copa America Champion Uruguay on Monday. Uruguay has 6 points and leads Group C after their big 5-0 win over Bolivia. A link to that story from Deadspin can be found here.

Uruguay 5, Bolivia o

Group B Game 2

Venezuela 1, Mexico o
Here is the full story from USA Today

Ecuador 3, Jamaica 1
To read more about this here is the story from The Athletic

Group A Game 2

Argentina 1, Chile 0
Canada 1, Peru 0
Check out the story on both wins from The Guardian here

Group D

Columbia 2, Paraguay 1
For more coverage check out the story from Fox Sports here

Brazil 0, Costa Rica 0
To get more on the match here is a link to The Guardian’s story

Group C

USA 2, Bolivia 0

(Arlington, TX) The US wanted to make a statement as the hosts of Copa America and took a shot less than a minute into the match that led to an early corner kick. Tim Weah sent a short pass to Christian Pulisic and one side step later the US Captain fired a shot that skimmed off the Bolivian keepers hand and in to the net for the 1-0 lead 3 minutes into the match. I think that turned some heads and got people paying attention.

After the initial burst both teams would settle into the game with the US controlling a majority of the possession. When Weston McKennie moved to a more attacking midfield role it gave the team a much needed spark of energy.  That spark led to a run in the 44th minute when Folarin Balogun sent a low shot off a Pulisic pass and put the Stars and Stripes up 2-0 going into halftime.

The US made some changes at the half and showed off some young talent in Ricardo Pepi (21) , Brenden Aaronson (23)  and Yunus Musah (21). Pepi, who grew up in the Dallas area, had multiple chances to add to the score but Bolivian goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra made huge saves including a point blank shot by Pepi in the 90th minute to shutout the US in the 2nd half.

Although the US got the win they are gonna have to do a better job converting their scoring chances with a tough Panama squad and 15 time Copa America Champion Uruguay left to play in group C. The positive takeaway is the maturing of Pulisic who showed strong leadership from start to finish, the ability to score on more than just set pieces and the improved play of the backline and keeper Matt Turner. The US took 20 shots with 8 on goal while also taking 8 corners. Bolivia took 1 corner and were held to 6 shots 3 of which were on frame.

Group C plays again on Thursday June 27th when team USA plays Panama and Bolivia takes on Uruguay.

Uruguay 3, Panama 1
To read more on Uruguay’s win here is the story by The Athletic

Group B

Venezuela 2, Ecuador 1
For the full story here is a link to the AP’S story 

Mexico 1, Jamaica 0
To read more on the game here is a link to The Sporting News Story

Group A

Argentina 2, Canada 0
For a full report here is a link to the Sporting News Story on Argentina’s win.

Peru 0, Chile 0
For the full story on the Peru/Chile draw here is a link to the A-P’s story.

Copa America is the 3rd most watched soccer tournament in the world behind only the World Cup and Olympics. It mostly features national teams from South and North America. Japan (1999,2016) and Qatar (2016) are the only teams from outside of the Americas to compete in the tournament.

This year is special because the United States is hosting the tournament. It’s only the 2nd time a non South American country has hosted. The first time it was in the US in 2016 they finished 4th tying their best finish in the tournament with the 1995 USMNT. Argentina is the defending champion and tied Uruguay with the most cup wins at 15 a piece. Uruguay’s last cup win came in 2011.

Argentina is the favorite at +175 to repeat as Champs coming off a huge World Cup win and a #1 FIFA ranking. La Albiceleste’s star player Lionel Messi would play the final in front of his MLS home fans in Miami. Brazil is the second favorite at +225 but without Neymar playing a new superstar will have to step up for the blue and yellow.

Other teams to keep an eye on include Uruguay +500 and Columbia ranks 12th in FIFA and is +1000. The USA is the 5th favorite at +1200. After a humbling 5-1 loss to Columbia a steadying draw against Brazil in the final warmup showed promise for the Stars and Stripes who are looking to get to the semis for the 3rd time in tournament history.

Copa America starts on Thursday June 20th with a match between Defending Champion Argentina and Canada with the other 2 group A teams Peru and Chile playing Friday June 21st. All other group round matches are in the chart below. 14 US cities will host games with the semifinals being played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey and Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Finals will be played on July 14th in Miami Gardens, Florida at the Hard Rock Stadium.

We will be updating scores and giving a rundown of the USA games after each match. We will also update the scores for each team for the entire run of the tournament. 

Group Play Matches:

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