Copa America 2024 Preview

Despite the fact that we are much lower ranked than the likes of reigning world champions Argentina and legendary names like Brazil and Argentina, we have to ask ourselves one question: can we win it in Florida? Let’s get to know our 26-man squad and our opponents first.

The Squad

On 14 June, USMNT Head Coach Gregg Berhalter announced the 26-man squad for the Copa America. The squad consists of the following players:

Goalkeepers

Matt Turner, Ethan Horvath and Sean Johnson are called up to the national team. With 41 caps, the most among the three keepers, Turner seems to be the number one pick between the goalposts, despite the difficult season he endured at Nottingham Forest F.C. in the United Kingdom.

Defenders

Nine defenders are called up: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Tim Ream, Shaq Moore, Joe Scally, Kristoffer Lund and Mark McKenzie. Ream is a clear outlier at 36 years old as the other eight are younger than 28. Unsurprisingly, the Fulham defender has the most caps among defenders with 58, followed closely by Antonee Robinson who already earned 43 caps before turning 27.

Midfielders

Seven midfielders are called up: Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, Giovanni Reyna, Weston McKennie, Luca de la Torre, Johnny Cardoso, and Malik Tillman. Every single one of our midfielders are playing in the top division in Europe; Adams is in Bournemouth, McKennie at Juventus, and Tillman won the Dutch Eredivisie at PSV Eindhoven. The average is also only a little bit over 23 years.

Attackers

Seven attackers are called up: Ricardo Pepi, Christian Pulisic (captain), Brenden Aaronson, Haji Wright, Folarin Balogun, Timothy Weah, and Josh Sargent. Captain Pulisic took AC Milan to second in Serie A with 12 goals and will be the one American player to watch in this tournament.

The oldest player in the Squad is Tim Ream who is 36, whereas the youngest is Ricardo Pepi, our number 9, who is 21. The player with the most caps and most goals is Christian Pulisic with 29 goals in 68 caps. But will Pulisic step up to snatch the golden boot away from Messi and co.? How about we go make a bet on kapook888 to cash out big time if that happens for real.

The Opponents

As the highest-ranked non-championship CONCACAF nation, the United States is placed into Group C of the 2024 Copa America. This will be the fifth appearance of our “Stars and Stripes” team in the competition and the first since 2016 when we also qualified as hosts. The group draw was made on December 7, 2023, and produced the following group components: the United States are joined by joint-record champions Uruguay, 1963 winners Bolivia and 2018 World Cup participant Panama.

Bolivia (H)

The United States’ journey to compete for its first medal in the 2024 Copa America will begin on June 23 with a ‘home’ match against Bolivia in Arlington, Texas. Bolivia is currently the worst-ranking team in the competition at 85^th and has progressed out of the group stage only once from the last nine attempts. So, this should be an easy win.

Panama (A)

Panama has recently broken our hearts in the 2023 Gold Cup semis when they beaten us 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out. Now, we have a chance to make amends as the two nations face off for the first time in the Copa America on June 27. The match will take place at the gorgeous Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta.

Yes, this might be only the second time Panama has qualified for the Copa, but they have also qualified for the 2018 World Cup against all odds. Plus, we recently had history with them, so this game will be a hard-fought one.

Uruguay (H)

Truly one of the most recognizable names in the South American scene, Uruguay has won the Copa America a joint-record 15 times, but they have yet to add a new one to their cabinet since 2011. Now, with Argentina’s fifteenth Copa in 2021, they might finally feel the urge to push it a bit further this time. This will undoubtedly be the hardest match in the entire group and might be the hardest competitive match for our national team in the past year or so. Whoever wins this game will most likely win the group.

So, will we win it?

Apart from the “Big Three” of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, the USA is the fourth-most likely winner, together with Colombia and our southern neighbors Mexico. However, when it comes to actually reaching the final, the US is ranked seventh, behind every team mentioned previously plus Ecuador. So, the betting companies in Europe might not have done us any favor here.

But that is the beautiful side of this sport. You cannot predict anything at all. Who knows? Maybe we will win it and celebrate a historic title in our own backyard. That would be one heck of a statement to make before the 2026 World Cup which will be, you guessed it, in our own backyard also.