What Makes Argentina Favourites To Win Copa America: We are just a day away from the start of the 2024 edition of Copa America, as the biggest national team competition in the Americas is just another addition to the summer of sports this year. The UEFA Euros and the Copa America will take place at the same time.
The tournament will be played in the United States as the country gears up to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The first game will be played between Argentina and Canada on Friday, June 21 at 5:30 AM (IST) in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
In a tournament with 16 teams, some are favourites to win it all more than others. Brazil are always among the favourites to win any tournament they play, despite their poor recent form. There is also Uruguay, which presents a strong case to win it. The likes of Columbia and Ecuador are the dark horses to win this one. And so will be the host, the US.
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But the overwhelming favourite to win this tournament is the defending champions, Argentina. Why is Lionel Messi and Lionel Scaloni’s team backed by fans and experts to win this competition twice in a row? What makes this team the favourite to win Copa America 2024? Let’s have a look.
What Makes Argentina Favourites To Win Copa America
The first factor that makes them the favourites is their absolutely outrageous form. Ever since losing in the semi-final of the 2019 Copa America to Brazil, La Albiceleste has lost only two matches in five years. This span included a victorious campaign in Copa America 2021, qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In this span of five years, the Argentina national team has played 57 games and lost only two. After an undefeated streak of 36 games, they lost their first 2022 World Cup match against Saudi Arabia. The team then went on to win the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
Since then, they have lost only a single game in one and a half years, against Uruguay in November last year.
But the form of the national team does not matter much if their players are not in good form, and some of the biggest players in the Argentina squad have been in fine form. Since the 2022 World Cup, he has made a big money move to Chelsea and might finally be coming out of his shell in London. On the other hand, Alexis Mac Allister was one of the finest players in the Liverpool squad this past season.
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In the last couple of seasons, Julian Alvarez has turned into a propped Ballon d’Or prospect at Manchester City; Lautaro Martinez was one of the best strikers in the world; Angel Di Maria is doing wonders at Benfica at his advanced age; and Alejandro Garnacho is a Golden Boy award contender at Manchester United.
And then there is Lionel Messi, who has been on fire for Inter Miami in the MLS in 2024. This year, Messi has scored 14 and assisted 11 goals in 15 games for his club. Even though the MLS might not have the level of competition on par with most European leagues, Lionel Messi has been dominating the league.
Speaking of Lionel Messi, he tends to bring together this Argentina side like nothing else. Several players have said in the past that they want to win international titles for Messi. In a recent video that emerged from the Argentina team bus, the players were chanting, “Winning another cup with Leo Messi is all we hope for.”
With a fine squad that is difficult to beat and one of, if not the greatest, footballers of all time, Argentina is among the best football teams in the world. But they have yet another X-factor that keeps them ahead of their competition: manager Lionel Scaloni.
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When Scaloni was first named the, at the time, interim manager of the national team in 2018, a lot of fans and experts, including the late Diego Maradona, criticised the appointment.
But since then, he finished third in the 2019 Copa America with a team that was eliminated in the Round of 16 of the 2018 World Cup. He then took the team on a historic unbeaten run, won the Copa America 2021 with them, and then won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Now considered one of the greatest managers in Argentina’s history, Scaloni’s tactics of shaping the team around Lionel Messi’s creativity have brought Argentina a lot of success.
It now remains to be seen whether Argentina can defend their crown and win Copa America for the second time in a row.
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Argentina Matches 2024 Copa America
Argentina is in Group A of the 2024 Copa America. As stated above, the defending champions will face Canada in their opening game at 5:30 AM (IST) on Friday, June 21.
Their second group game will be against Chile on Wednesday, June 26, at 6:30 AM (IST) in the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Their third and final game of the group stage will be against Peru on Sunday, June 30 at 5:30 AM (IST) in Miami, Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium.
Argentina Squad 2024 Copa America
Goalkeepers: Emiliano Martinez, Franco Armani, Geronimo Rulli
Defenders: Gonzalo Montiel, Lisandro Martinez, Leonardo Balerdi, German Pezzella, Cristian Romero, Nicolas Tagliafico, Lucas Martinez Quarta, Nicolas Otamendi, Nahuel Molina, Valentin Barco, Marcos Acuna
Midfielders: Enzo Fernandez, Guido Rodriguez, Alexis Mac Allister, Valentin Carboni, Rodrigo De Paul, Giovani Lo Celso, Exequiel Palacios, Leandro Paredes
Attackers: Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, Alejandro Garnacho, Lautaro Martinez, Julian Alvarez, Angel Correa, Nicolas Gonzalez
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