Power ranking teams based on odds

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The 2024 edition of the Copa America tournament kicks off this Thursday in Atlanta with Lionel Messi and Argentina taking on the Canadian national team. The tournament will feature 16 of the best countries North and South America have to offer, including the United States.

The U.S. Men's National Team hasn't done particularly well in this tournament though. 2024 will be just the fifth time the United States has been invited since guest nations were allowed to join in 1993. In that time, the U.S. has never finished better than fourth (1995, 2016).

Once again, the States will enter the tournament without much in the way of expectations. While they certainly aren't the worst team to compete in this year's Copa America, they're still a far cry from the favorites Argentina (2021 champions) and Brazil (2019 champions). If there's one thing to know about Copa America though, it's that surprises can happen at any time.

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Here's every team competing in the 2024 Copa America ranked by their championship odds. All odds via BetMGM.

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2024 Copa America Power Rankings16) Panama, +50000 Copa America is the perfect opportunity for Panama to prove its worth as a potential 2026 World Cup qualifier. Still, this is a team that is definitely a step down from others in its group, and their championship odds reflect that.

15) Jamaica, +20000 Jamaica's chances lie with the availability of two of their star players: wide forward Leon Bailey and goalkeeper Andre Blake. While both players are listed on the team's roster ahead of the tournament, Bailey has expressed disinterest in playing for the national team and insists he will not be playing in Copa America. Blake, meanwhile, recently underwent meniscus surgery, and is expected to miss considerable time, putting his odds of playing in Copa America in jeopardy.

14) Costa Rica, +15000 Costa Rica is not a terrible team. After all, they did have a shot to survive the group stage in the 2022 World Cup, but they have been placed in the daunting Group D alongside Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay. It would take several upsets for them to even come close to a shot at a championship.

13) Bolivia, +12500 Bolivia has failed to record a single point (meaning they haven't even managed a draw) in each of the last three Copa Americas. Bolivia's inexperienced roster and lack of recent success do not bode well for their chances this year either.

12) Venezuela, +10000 Though Venezuela is not the most talented team in their group, let alone the tournament, their team has a lot of experience together and they have performed tremendously well as of late, with nine points through their first six World Cup qualifying matches.

Venezuela has certainly been the beneficiary of a lot of luck though. The team was expected to surrender 7.74 goals during those six matches, but only wound up giving up three. As people say, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, but lucky eventually runs out and that could very well happen early on during Copa America.

11) Canada, +8000 Canada's manager Jesse Marsch is known for playing very quick and intense, which could suit the Canadian team well if Marsch had enough time to implement his gameplan. That's a huge question mark for the national team heading into Copa America. If Marsch had enough time to start making his mark on the team, this Canadian team could make some waves during the group stage. That's still a massive unknown though.

T-9) Peru, +6600 After losing a penalty shootout against Australia for the final 2022 World Cup spot, Peru has not won an international match since. Despite their history and supposedly talented roster, they've yet to win a single World Cup qualifying match, losing four and drawing two, all while scoring only one goal throughout all six games. Peru's recent 2-0 loss to Bolivia is arguably the most embarrassing of all though. It's tough to see this team making waves in a group with Argentina, Chile, and Canada.

T-9) Paraguay, +6600 Paraguay has had serious trouble scoring as of late with just one goal in their first six World Cup qualifying matches. However, Paraguay is too talented up front to expect that scoring drought to last much longer. Unfortunately for Paraguay though, they find themselves in the daunting Group D and are not expected to reach the knockout rounds. That puts a real damper on their championship odds.

8) Chile, +3300 This Chile team is nowhere close to the 2015 squad that won Copa America. Still, they are expected to reach the knockout rounds as the second-best team in Group A behind Argentina. The team has had a lot of trouble scoring goals, resulting in just 0.5 goals per match in their first six World Cup qualifying matches.

On the bright side, they were able to dominate Paraguay 3-0 a week ago, but it's still not the elite win that gives Chilean fans hope for their team to win Copa America.

7) Ecuador, +1600 Despite being ranked seventh in Copa America championship odds, Ecuador has battled tough against very strong opponents as of late. In their three biggest World Cup qualifying matches thus far, Ecuador has lost 1-0 to Argentina, tied Colombia, and beaten Uruguay.

Given that Ecuador is in arguably the least threatening group of any in this year's Copa America, there's a chance that Ecuador can sneak into the quarterfinals without much trouble, well-rested, and capable of doing some serious damage once the knockout rounds start.

T-4) United States, +1200 Despite their recent 5-1 loss to Colombia, most people agree that the U.S. played surprisingly well for most of that game until a series of errors caught up to them. This is undoubtedly the most talented team the United States has had in some time with each of their 11 starters playing in amongst Europe's most elite leagues during club season. Christian Pulisic is obviously a tremendous player capable of leading this team far, and given their relatively easy group (should get six points from Bolivia and Panama), they should go far. Still, their path to a championship is tough and will likely force the U.S. to defeat a team like Colombia, Uruguay, or Brazil for any hope of reaching the Finals.

T-4) Mexico, +1200 Despite their incredible track record in CONCACAF, the Mexican national team has started to lose in their rivalry against the United States. The U.S. has beaten Mexico in each of their last two meetings by a combined five goals,. Given Mexico's 4-0 loss to Uruguay in June and 3-2 defeat at the hands of Brazil's B team just a few days later, it's safe to assume that Mexico is not at the top of their game currently.

T-4) Colombia, +1200 Dating back to February 1, 2022, Colombia's national team has not lost a match. They were ousted in the 2021 Copa America semifinals in a penalty shootout, and just barely missed out on qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. Since then though, Colombia is undefeated. And they've been very impressive as well.

Some of their recent wins include a 5-1 thrashing over the United States, a win over Brazil in World Cup qualifying, shut outs over Germany and Spain, and two wins over Mexico. For a team that is currently tied with the U.S.A. and Mexico in Copa America odds, Colombia certainly seems to have their numbers. Their impressive track record and relatively high odds should make Colombia a popular bet.

3) Uruguay, +500 Throughout the 2020's, Argentina has just two losses: their 2022 World Cup opening round shocker against Saudi Arabia and their loss to Uruguay in November. That alone should tell you just how improved this Uruguay team is since their last trot on the international stage. The team currently sits in second in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings, six points ahead of Brazil. They've also beaten Brazil as recently as October.

2) Brazil, +225 Neymar's absence for this year's tournament is obviously a huge blow. He was undoubtedly Brazil's best player in the team's 2021 Copa America Finals loss to Argentina. Still, Brazil has an undeniably great roster filled with tons of players who could break out and win the tournament's Golden Boot.

The drawback to this team though has been their inability to prove themselves. Their results during CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualifying were underwhelming to say the least. Brazil failed to win in each of their last four qualifying matches, including three losses to Uruguay, Colombia, and Argentina. They even failed to record a win at full strength in an international friendly against a hobbled United States team a week ago, settling for a 1-1 draw.

Brazil is tremendously talented, but until they can put it all together, they do not deserve to be named Copa America favorites.

1) Argentina, +175 The reigning Copa America champions, Argentina has the luxury of one of the easier group stages in the tournament with Canada, Peru, and Chile. They also boast the most talented roster in this year's tournament, with players like Lautaro Martínez, Julián Álvarez, Cristian Romero, and , of course, Lionel Messi.

Given Argentina's incredible hot streak in recent years, winning the World Cup in 2022 and recording the best expected goal difference during CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualifying, it's hard to argue against Argentina. They have the best odds for good reason and they'll be very difficult to take down.

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Source link : https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/tourneys/2024/06/19/copa-america-2024-power-ranking-teams-odds/74145766007/ Author : Publish date : 2024-06-19 15:12:18 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source .