Copa America 2021 – Everything that’s happened so far
The Copa America 2021 kicked off in Brazil on Sunday evening, with 10 South American sides contesting the delayed 47th edition of the Copa America originally scheduled to take place in 2020.
The much anticipated Copa America opened its’ curtains with host Brazil going head to head against Venezuela. The Selecao who are the tournament holders, never looked in trouble against their opposition which already had some major selection problems due to injuries and covid related absentees.
Colombia also had a positive start to the tournament, beating Ecuador courtesy of a goal from Edwin Cardona. In the third game played last night, Argentina and Chile shared the points as they could not go beyond a 1-1 draw. The usual culprit Lionel Messi opened the score for his team, with Eduardo Vargas claiming a point for Chile.
When & Where is the Copa America taking place?
The Copa America kicked off on June 13th and the final of the competition will be played on July 10th. Brasil is host to the competition after both Argentina and Chile were removed from hosting for safety reasons.
Who will feature in the 2021 Copa America Format?
The ten teams that are taking part have been split into two groups.
Group A: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay
Group B: Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru
Who are the Favourites?
While Messi remains in the team, Argentina will always be considered among the top favorites to win a competition despite failing when it mattered most. The superstar forward has been on the losing side in three Copa America Finals, most recently even missing a penalty in the 2016 shootout against Chile.
Current Holders Brazil are ranked 3rd in the World in the FIFA rankings and currently possess one of the best squads around. The fact the tournament is being staged at their homeland gives them a further edge in making them strong favorites to retain the title once again.
Third favourites Uruguay head into the competion with the most successful forwards in the whole competition in Luis Suarez and Edison Cavani. Despite both being on the wrong side of their 30s, the pair keep delivering goals having had a quite successful domestic season with their clubs.
Despite not possessing any world class players in their ranks, Chile has consistently delivered in the Copa America having beaten rivals Argentina on two successive finals. Now with a group of experienced group of players in Eduardo Vargas and Alexis Sanchez, Chile will hope to rise to the occasion once again after being labelled as the tournament underdogs.
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