The 2024 Copa America will be only the second to feature 16 teams in four groups, with six guest teams from CONCACAF participating in South America’s ultimate tournament.
Defending champions Argentina will start their campaign on Thursday 20 June against tournament newcomers Canada at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Lionel Messi will lead Argentina in the 48th edition of Copa America and will be the clear favorites to defend their title having won the World Cup in 2022. They also reached the Copa America finals in 2015, 2016 and 2019.
Canada on the other hand are under the new leadership of Jesse Marsch. In his first two matches as Canadian boss, Les Rouges were thumped 4-0 by the Netherlands but they did hold France 0-0 in their second match.
This will be Marsch’s first major tournament with Canada and he will look to take his team far in the tournament and add to his already stable reputation.
Argentina v Canada Team News
Lionel Messi will spearhead Scaloni’s side in the United States along with Julian Alvarez. The likes of Rodrigo De Paul, Alexis Mac Allister, and Enzo Fernandez will look to dominate the midfield and dictate the pace of the game for Argentina. La Albiceleste’s depth at the back is also tremendous with Emiliano Martinez behind a back line which includes Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Romero.
Scaloni has left some notable names out of the tournament as Paulo Dybala along with Angel Correa and Marseille defender Lucas Balerdi will all miss out on Argentina’s Copa America title defense in the United States.
Canada will be without longtime goalkeeping star Milan Borjan with St. Clair expected to start in his absence. Marsch’s team have a lack of depth in center-back and center-midfield positions but do have household names such as Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David at their disposal.
Jonathan Osorio, Tajon Buchanan and Stephen Eustaquio are among other well-known names for Canada as they look to cause a major upset on the very first day of the tournament.
Argentina’s Expectations at the Copa America
Lionel Scaloni’s side are the clear favorites going into the tournament. They are arguably the best side on paper and will be full of confidence after the FIFA World Cup triumph. Lionel Messi will be looking to add to his already illustrious career by winning his third trophy with his beloved nation. He has also won an Olympic Gold in 2008 in Beijing.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
