The Copa America group stages have seen the elimination of Mexico and the United States – but several big nations have still flexed their muscles.
Pre-tournament favourites Argentina and Uruguay have breezed through the opening round, while less fancied nations like Venezuela have also impressed.
We’ve ranked every team in the tournament totally scientifically based on their three group matches from worst to best.
Note: If you want to point and laugh at us, you can also read our ranking after the first and second round of matches.
16. Bolivia
With one goal scored and 10 conceded, Bolivia exited the Copa America with no points and the worst record of all the 16 finalists.
The 3-1 defeat to Panama ended their slim chances of going through, but the Bolivians did make it difficult for their opponents to get the win they needed to progress.
“We need to leverage all the lessons we learned here in Copa America,” Bolivia coach Antonio Carlos Zago said afterwards.
“This is a match where you cannot make a mistake and we made mistakes today, so we need to correct those errors.
“We need to continue working and believe that everything is going to improve as a whole, so that in the future we are going to have a stronger and more competitive national team.”
15. Jamaica
Forever less than their sum of parts, already-eliminated Jamaica ended their tournament with a 3-0 defeat to Venezuela in Austin.
Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has already resigned as the Reagge Boyz look to regroup before the resumption of their World Cup qualifying campaign.
14. Paraguay
Paraguay’s 2-1 defeat to Costa Rica was academic for them – they’d already been eliminated after two matches.
But it did mark the first time since 1925 that the Paraguayans had lost all of their group matches. While their squad isn’t the strongest in South America, there was enough talent within it to make this tournament feel like a bitter disappointment.
“It was a bad tournament, a bad performance,” coach Daniel Garnero said.
Speaking about his future, he added: “I am here because the association requested my services and if they don’t want me to continue, that is their decision. I’ll have to discuss that with them.”
13. Peru
Peru’s chances of going through with a win against Argentina and dropped points for Canada against Chile always looked slimmer than a supermodel’s waistline and so it proved.
The Peruvians fell to a 2-0 defeat against Messi-less opponents and attracted the displeasure of their coach Jorge Fossati with a lifeless display.
“First and foremost I believe that Peru’s performance today was the weakest of all three games,” Fossati said.
“The heat in that stadium was very difficult for that game and the sun hits you hard. You get no shade anywhere on that pitch. The strain on our players was huge.
“So this, combined with the quality of Argentina, we couldn’t see through our strategy to recover or retain the ball. If you have no legs, you can’t achieve these things.
“It felt like we were always one second late.”
A squad lacking in top quality now faces a huge task in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
12. Chile
“We believe in the group that came to participate in this Copa America,” assistant coach Sergio Santin said after the 0-0 draw with Canada that knocked the 2015 and 2016 winners out.
“A very detailed analysis was done so that the best players were in this Copa America call-up, and they were.”
This was the first time since 1917 that La Roja failed to score throughout an entire tournament, indicating that a major renewal of their squad which still includes Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas, is required.
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11. Mexico
Mexico’s anaemic goalless draw with Ecuador ensured the CONCACAF giants were eliminated from this year’s Copa America in the group stages – and it’s been a long time coming.
After jettisoning their well-known stars before the tournament, Mexico’s young squad possessed little attacking threat and scored just once in three matches.
“We have improved a lot defensively, but now we have to find that balance and work on that patience, that final touch in the attacking third,” coach Jaime Lozano said afterwards.
“We’ve gained a lot from these players in this tournament and it’s an experience that will help us.”
There is no guarantee Lozano will get the chance to learn from this experience – especially with a World Cup on home soil in two years time.
10. United States
The USA became the first hosts of a Copa America tournament to be eliminated in the group stages following their 1-0 defeat to Uruguay.
While the Uruguayan winner was a contentious offside decision, the truth is the States played with little invention and barely deserved to progress.
“Just to see the guys’ faces in the locker room and the emotion of staff and players who were bitterly disappointed with the result,” Gregg Berhalter said after the game.
“We know we’re capable of more and in this tournament. We didn’t show it, it’s as simple as that. We look at the stage with the fans and the high level of competition and we should have done better.”
Berhalter will likely be sacked after this disasterclass of a tournament, but questions over the capabilities of these USMNT players will linger until the World Cup in 2026.
READ: Where are they now? Every USMNT manager since 2010: Berhalter, Klinsmann…
9. Costa Rica
Needing snookers to progress, Costa Rica did their part with a 2-1 win over Paraguay – only for Brazil’s draw with Colombia to eliminate them from the tournament.
“This was a very tough group. We were playing against Brazil and Colombia, two of the four favourites to win the Copa,” Costa Rica coach Gustavo Alfaro told reporters.
“We had our strengths, our achievements and our mistakes, but we grew and we’re analysing the performance rather than the results.
“The important thing is that we learn and that this was a very short tournament that we had to seize to the fullest.”
With a squad that wasn’t expected to do well, Costa Rica can be heartened by their performance before resuming their World Cup qualifying campaign.
8. Panama
Panama sealed their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Bolivia, sparking scenes of wild celebrations among their players and supporters.
Jose Fajardo opened the scoring for Panama while substitutes Eduardo Guerrero and Cesar Yanis scored late to seal all three points to send the CONCACAF side through.
“Football is daily suffering, but today there was a lot at stake,” Panama boss Thomas Christiansen told reporters. “We knew that not even a win guaranteed that we would make it to the quarter-finals after the first goal.
“Our performance dropped at times … they (Bolivia) began to control the game and they scored. We started to get a bit more anxious.
“But we reacted quickly. Our players were able to overcome those odds and the substitutions made a huge difference.”
7. Ecuador
Only needing a point against Mexico to progress, Ecuador eeked out a 0-0 draw without coming close to impressing – not that they’ll give a solitary eff about that.
Their reward for finishing second in Group B is a quarter-final against Argentina; intimidating, but springing a surprise isn’t beyond a team of Ecuador’s capabilities.
We are going to have to play a perfect game, but we go into it motivated,” coach Felix Sanchez at the prospect of meeting the holders.
“It’s 11 vs 11 and we are going to do everything we possibly can.”
6. Canada
The match against Chile was rarely pretty, but Canada secured the 0-0 draw that took them into the quarter-finals.
Jesse Marsch’s side have shown the pleasing ability to switch from easy-on-the-eye passing to ugly defending when required, meaning they have a puncher’s chance of beating Venezuela in their next match.
5. Brazil
Failure to beat Colombia has consigned Brazil to second place in Group D – and a quarter-final against Uruguay.
Raphinha opened the scoring with a sumptuous free-kick, but Daniel Munoz’s equaliser saw the match finish 1-1 and the Brazilians rue a series of missed chances.
Even more worryingly, Vinicius Jr will be suspended for the quarters after picking up a second booking of the tournament. Not ideal.
READ: Where are they now? ESPN’s 8 youngsters to watch from Copa America 2016
4. Venezuela
This year’s surprise package, Venezuela completed the group stage with three wins from three as they beat Jamaica 3-0 courtesy of three second-half goals.
Strikes from Eduard Bello, Salomon Rondon and Eric Ramirez ensured the side who have never qualified for a World Cup topped Group B and set up a winnable quarter-final against Canada.
3. Colombia
After an edge-of-your-seat draw with Brazil, Colombia won Group D and face a quarter-final against Panama that could not look more inviting if it was served on a silver platter.
Coming into the tournament on a long unbeaten run, the Colombians have lived up to the billing with James Rodriguez pulling the strings in a throwback playmaker role.
While Colombia should get through the quarters, a tantalising match against Brazil or Uruguay would await on the difficult half of the draw.
2. Uruguay
Uruguay ended the group stage with a narrow win over the United States, eliminating the hosts from their own competition.
Despite manager Marcelo Bisela being banned from the touchline, La Celeste won the game through Mathias Olivera’s second-half strike and they’ll feel confident heading into the quarters with three victories and nine goals scored.
1. Argentina
No Messi, no problem; Argentina cruised to the Copa America quarterfinals as Group A winners following a satisfactory 2-0 win over Peru in Miami.
Lautaro Martinez scored twice and is now the tournament’s top scorer, while the defending champions took the opportunity to rotate their starting XI – which could prove wise in oppressive conditions.
“Today we have seen many players who had not had game time,” assistant coach Walter Samuel said afterwards. “We have now used almost the whole squad. Now comes the next round [against Ecuador] and we need to be ready.”
Source link : https://www.planetfootball.com/lists-and-rankings/copa-america-group-stage-power-ranking-argentina-usmnt-brazil
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Publish date : 2024-07-03 11:00:04
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