Some of the world’s best soccer players have headed to Brazil to play their part in this year’s Copa America! The likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Aguero and many more stars will play for their respective South American countries in a bid to be crows the champions of South America. Of course, there are some great markets available, so we’ve put together some of our best plays for the tournament. Check them out below and good luck to everyone following!
2019 Copa America Preview & Betting Tips
History/Background
The Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship, is a men's international soccer tournament contested between national teamsfromCONMEBOL. It’s the oldest continental soccer competition and is played to determine the champions of South America. This year there are 10 South American teams playing, as well as two teams from Asia (Japan and Qatar) that were invited to participate.
Tournament Format
It’s a group stage and knockout tournament that will begin with three groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group and the two best third placed teams will advance to the knockout stage.
Here’s what the groups look like this year:
Group A – Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador
Group B – Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Qatar
Group C – Chile, Ecuador, Japan, Uruguay
Winner Prediction
Looking at the contenders here it’s really only a three-horse race in our view. We like the look of the hosts in Brazil, but also recognise the danger that Leo Messi’s Argentina and Luis Suarez’s Uruguay present.
Brazil have opened as favourites and have stayed around the $2 mark at most major agencies. They possess the most skilled starting 11 of all South American countries, although they will be without superstar Neymar for the tournament.
Argentina have had a formidable attack for some time now and this year is no exception. The likes of Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero will spearhead Argentina again this year, which is sure to cause a lot of headaches for opposition defenders. The main concern will be the Argentinians defence, which has been their Achilles heel in the past.
Uruguay have a sneaky good team that always tends to fly under the radar. Any starting 11 that boasts a superstar like Luis Suarez up front should always be a consider, or at least a dark horse.
We’re going to be following the market here and placing our capital on the hosts, Brazil. They simply have the best talent and the greatest depth, as well as the home crowd factor. They’ve been handed the easiest of the three groups and should glide to the final.
Golden Boot Winner
Although we just mentioned that we expect Brazil to take out the tournament, a lot of the time a Golden Boot winner comes from a team that’s either the runner up or a semi-finalist. The Brazilians have so much depth up front that they will likely go with different combinations of attackers against the weaker sides, so we’ll be avoiding their players in this market. Of course, there’s always the chance that Leo Messi will go on a hot-streak and snatch the Golden Boot, but his odds ($4) are just not enough for us to take. For these reasons, we’ll be looking at taking the odds on Luis Suarez ($9), which seems like ridiculous value in our view, especially if Uruguay can go deep in the tournament.
