There’s a recipe for making the best tournaments. You need the right balance of favorites marching towards the final and underdogs carving their way out of the group stage. A nation furthering a massive unbeaten streak doesn’t hurt, either. The same goes for a host nation crashing out in dramatic fashion.
The first 24 games of the Copa América have added just about every ingredient in that great tournament recipe. With the group stage complete and the knockout rounds awaiting us, which teams look the strongest?
1) Argentina
Winners of all three group stage games, Argentina cruised to the top of Group A over Canada, Chile, and Peru.
They trotted to wins with Lionel Messi in the lineup. But, crucially, they looked dominant without him in their final group match, which he missed through injury. Messi has returned to full training and seems likely to play in the quarters. If not, they could do a whole lot worse than sliding Alejandro Garnacho into the team.
In Messi’s absence, Lautaro Martínez has caught fire. After starting the tournament on the subs bench, Martínez has pushed his way into the starting lineup, scoring four times in three games – including two from the bench.
Moving back a line, Argentina’s midfield is ready to beat you – and they want to shove it in your face. “What I do is pick an enemy,” midfield general Rodrigo De Paul told Telemundo. “Well, let’s say a rival because that doesn’t sound so bad. I look to engage in a dispute that will keep me alert. It’s not just that I want to win. I want to beat you. I make it personal.”
Best of luck to Argentina’s opponents in the knockouts. They’ll need it.
2) Colombia
Colombia haven’t lost in 26 games. They haven’t lost since February 2022. That’s objectively insane.
Sure, their failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup preceded this amazing run of form and puts a bit of a damper on the streak. But now, 18 months removed from that World Cup, Colombia look like a genuine threat to extend that unbeaten run all the way to the final.
Colombia finished on top of Group D, beating Paraguay and Costa Rica before drawing in their showdown with Brazil. Despite conceding a free-kick wonder-goal, they pushed back to earn the point that would keep them in first place and book a spot with an overmatched quarter-final opponent: Panama.
3) Uruguay
One of the three teams to win all three of their games so far, Uruguay aren’t here to mess around. Marcelo Bielsa has barely rotated his lineup, making just one change from their match against Panama to their second against Bolivia. Even with their spot in the knockouts essentially guaranteed before their meeting with the US, Uruguay used the exact same lineup.
While Uruguay rely on a set group of players, they’ve shown tactical flexibility. They didn’t try to press the US into oblivion, as we often see with Bielsa’s teams. Instead, they sat in a mostly reserved 4-4-1-1 block, absorbed pressure, and waited for the perfect chance to strike. That flexibility will be key against Brazil.
4) Brazil
Brazil have been in a funk since the last World Cup. They’ve only won two of their first six games in qualifying for the 2026 edition, they drew with the US in a friendly last month and then were held scoreless by Costa Rica in their Copa América opener.
We haven’t seen a whole lot of dominant stuff from Brazil lately. But just when you think they’re not a true threat, they go out and do stuff like this. Whatever their structural flaws as a team, Brazil still boast individual gamechangers.
Playing with three wingers across their frontline rather than with a true striker, Brazil have struggled to find the right moments to combine through the middle. Still, uh, they’re Brazil, which is to say they’re stacked. It feels foolish to claim they can’t figure things out. If they can navigate past Uruguay, they’ll be as dangerous as anyone.
5) Venezuela
I didn’t have Venezuela finish on top of their group with a perfect nine points from three games on my Copa América bingo card. Did you?
Group B was always going to be the most difficult one to predict. Ecuador were the favorites coming into the summer, but the distance between the four teams was tighter than in any other group.
Sure, Venezuela were handed a gift in their opener against Ecuador, courtesy of Enner Valencia’s red card in the 22nd minute. But with Salomón Rondón scoring goals and Yangel Herrera and José Martínez winning every ball in midfield, you have to fight through a buzzsaw to beat Venezuela.
6) Ecuador
Ecuador cut it really, really close. If not for a (correctly) reversed penalty call in their final group stage match against Mexico, there was a real chance they were going to be watching the rest of this tournament from home. But the call was reversed, they picked up a much-needed point, and now they’re in the quarter-finals.
They’ll regret their early collapse against Venezuela when it comes time to play Argentina in the next round instead of the runner-up from Group A. It’s probably one tournament cycle too early for teenage star Kendry Páez to give them a real chance against Argentina, but never say never.
7) Canada
The stars are aligning for Canada this summer. They impressed in stretches during the group stage – the first half of their tournament opener against Argentina gave Canadian fans belief. But, really, they ended up doing something close to the bare minimum by advancing from Group A in second place. They couldn’t maintain their momentum in what turned into a loss against Argentina, they beat a 10-man Peruvian team and they drew with a 10-man Chile.
And now? They get to play a surprisingly sturdy, but beatable, Venezuela team. They’re not as well rounded as the teams above them, but Jesse Marsch and company should thank the tournament gods. They’ve got a real path to the semis.
8) Panama
The biggest underdog to advance to the knockout rounds, Thomas Christiansen’s Panama were expected to finish a distant third behind Uruguay and the US in Group C. Timothy Weah’s red card in Atlanta changed all that. Panama beat the US and took care of business against Bolivia to book their spot in quarter-finals.
Panama play some fun soccer under Christiansen and deserve respect for their run so far. Still, it’s almost impossible to see them beating Colombia without star creator Adalberto Carrasquilla, who is serving a suspension after his late challenge on Christian Pulisic last week.
9) United States
The US failed this summer. There’s no way around it. A foolish moment from Weah put them in a hole against Panama. An inability to secure at least a draw in that match deepened the problems. Then an uninspiring attacking performance against Uruguay, in a game they needed a win, was the final nail in the coffin.
The US are talented enough to still be alive in this tournament, but everything that could go wrong for them this summer did. A home tournament was a chance to build momentum leading to 2026. Instead, a 5-1 hammering at the hands of Colombia pre-Copa, followed by limp showing in the group stage, has led to existential questions about the entire program. Oof.
10) Mexico
El Tri are a drab, unremarkable team these days. They were in contention to advance to the knockouts right until the final whistle blew in their match against Ecuador, but they also scored just one goal at the tournament. Mexico’s talent pool is drier than it’s been in a long time – maybe the driest in the nation’s history.
11) Costa Rica
It was always going to be an uphill battle to escape from Group D, but keeping a clean sheet against Brazil is something that Costa Rica will remember for years. They exceeded expectations and did so with the youngest team in the tournament. Their average age, weighted by minutes played, was just 25.4 years. They may be out, but it’s a tournament performance to build on.
12) Paraguay
They ended with zero points, but Paraguay were able to hang with Colombia in their opening game and they quadrupled Costa Rica’s xG on Tuesday evening. That’s something! There were great moments, but a tough group and conceding untimely goals killed them.
13) Chile
One of two teams to go scoreless at the Copa América, Chile never looked like a threat to reach the quarter-finals. They’re at the opposite end of the age spectrum from Costa Rica: their average age during the group stage, weighted by minutes played, was 30.7. Chile need new blood.
14) Peru
Oh, hey, look! It’s the other scoreless team. Peru finished at the bottom of Group A, with their only point coming in a – you guessed it – scoreless draw with Chile. This team is a far cry from the one that made noise at the 2018 World Cup.
15) Jamaica
There was plenty up-for-grabs in Group B, but Jamaica always looked the most likely team to end up at the bottom. With off-field drama swirling and without starting goalkeeper Andre Blake, they never posed a true threat.
16) Bolivia
Ending their Copa América run with a minus-nine goal differential, no team was more woeful than Bolivia in the group stage. South America’s cellar dwellers can also lay claim to the same title at Copa América.
