The 2021 Copa America, from June 11 to July 10, is the South American soccer championship. The tournament occurs at irregular intervals; it was held in 2015, 2016, 2019 and again in 2021 (it was postponed due to COVID), then won't happen again until 2024 as it become a quadrennial event.
Copa America is the confederation-wide tournament of South America’s COMNEBOL. The tournament features every South American country, without need for qualification, and two guest teams from other confederations.
Because of the guest teams, Copa America is unique among confederation tournaments like the UEFA Euros. None of the guest teams have ever won the tournament, but Mexico finished runners-up twice: 1993 and 2001. The United States has finished fourth twice in four appearances in the tournament.
The tournament is formatted such like the World Cup: there are three groups of four teams, each team plays each other once. The top two teams in each group move onto the knockout stage. The two best-performing third-place teams move on as well, based on points and goal differential.
The tournament is held at irregular intervals. It has been held in back-to-back years or sometimes every two, three or four years. After the 2021 tournament, there will be a three-year break until 2024 before the next Copa America.
The most popular ways to bet on Copa America is individual games, the overall winner, to make the final, and top goalscorer in the tournament. Deciding between these could be just as easy as seeing which sportsbooks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Many bettors know what’s available to bet for individual games, but soccer betting generally simply offers moneyline bets on both teams and a draw, and an over/under goals. Spread betting is less popular in soccer due to the lower number of goals scored in games.
Most bookmakers offer more than just that, but those are the main two markets. Other markets offered include first-half or second-half stats, which team will score first, and which player will score first. If you really feel clairvoyant, you can even try to predict the exact score for excellent odds.
Uruguay has won the most South American tournaments with 15 – the tournament came to be known as Copa America after 1975 – followed closely by Argentina with 14. Argentina has made 28 finals, Uruguay 21. Brazil has only won 9 tournaments and made 20 final appearances.
Beyond that is a very steep drop off. Paraguay, Peru, and Chile have won two Copa America championships apiece. Colombia and Bolivia have won one each. The lesson is that Uruguay and Argentina are almost always fairly safe bets to make deep runs.
There are few invitees that have ever had success in Copa America. Mexico was a regular fixture of the tournament for over two decades and became the only non-COMNEBOL team to see significant success.
Additionally, considering the host is always important. All tournaments hosted by Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay were won by the host nation.
Betting on teams in form at the time of the tournament is also a massively important factor. Copa America’s group stage can be unpredictable. In 2016, Brazil and Uruguay were bounced out of the tournament in the group stage, foreshadowing unspectacular runs in the 2018 World Cup.
Making the final is also a popular market for people to bet on, though this can be even more predictable than betting the tournament winner. There have only been 9 tournaments where only one of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay made the semifinal.
Betting on one or more of the three regular South American powers to make the final is always a good bet. The 2015 and 2016 tournaments might have seen Chile win back-to-back finals, but Chile’s golden generation drove much of the team’s success those two years.
Betting top goalscorer in Copa America is always a popular market due to the number of players that could claim the crown. Odds are usually pretty good too, as every player is over even odds due to the unpredictability of the market.
Considering the recent form of a player is always key, but consider the competition they’re playing against as well. Despite names like Messi, Aguero and Cavani playing in the 2016 Copa America, Chile’s Eduardo Vargas won the Golden Boot with 6 goals in the competition.
The biggest thing is that some players are better against South American competition than others. Lionel Messi, the most prolific goal scorer in Argentina history, has never taken the Golden Boot in the Copa America tournament.
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Year | Winner | Runner-up | Score |
---|---|---|---|
2019 | Brazil | Peru | 3-1 |
2016 | Chile | Argentina | 0-0 (a.e.t, 4-2 PKs) |
2015 | Chile | Argentina | 0-0 (a.e.t, 4-1 PKs) |
2011 | Uruguay | Paraguay | 3-0 |
2007 | Brazil | Argentina | 3-0 |
2004 | Brazil | Argentina | 2-2 (4-2 PKs) |
The 2021 Copa America tournament starts June 11 and ends July 10.
The 2019 tournament has 12 teams – the 10 members of the South American soccer federation, CONMEBOL, and two guest nations.
The 2020 Copa America will be held in both Colombia and Argentina in 2021.
Uruguay has won 15 South American championships, followed by Argentina with 14. Brazil has won a record 5 World Cups but trails the leaders with 9 Copa America championships.
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