How can Canada make the most of their pace out wide? Which legendary coach has reinvigorated Chile? And how will Argentina need to evolve to win their third international tournament in a row?
The 2024 Copa America begins on Thursday, early Friday morning UK time, as six guest nations from neighbouring federation CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) battle it out with the 10 South American sides to try to win international football’s oldest prize. Copa America was first contested in 1916, 14 years before the inaugural World Cup and 44 before the Euros began.
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To help you get ready for the U.S.-hosted event, our Thom Harris will look at each team’s playing style, strengths, weaknesses, key players and highlight things to keep an eye on over the next month.
We start with Group A, where we find the defending champions, one side who are Copa America debutants, and two struggling rivals with plenty in common…
Argentina
- Manager: Lionel Scaloni
- Captain: Lionel Messi
- 2026 World Cup Qualifying record (ongoing): P6 W5 D0 L1 GF8 GA2
- 2021 Copa America: Champions
- Most caps in squad: Lionel Messi (182)
- Top scorer in squad: Lionel Messi (108)
How do they play?
The reigning Copa, and World Cup, champions will be arriving stateside to protect their continental crown. Argentina are not only overwhelming favourites to finish top of Group A, they stand a very good chance of winning the whole tournament for a record 16th time.
Heading into Thursday’s opening game with Canada in Atlanta, Lionel Scaloni’s side have conceded just four goals in 14 matches since that World Cup final against France 18 months ago, and tasted defeat twice in 58 games going back to the semi-finals of the 2019 Copa America. What’s more, with Uruguay in Group C, and Brazil and Colombia in Group D, they have not lost a competitive match to any nation on their side of the draw in this tournament since 2016.
While their tactical shape is adaptable, Argentina’s dominance hinges on possession, controlling the ball and overloading the final third to keep their opponents under pressure.
In a friendly victory over Costa Rica in March, centre-backs Cristian Romero and Nicolas Otamendi stepped forward in build-up, and the full-backs pushed high and wide. All the while, a trio of midfielders took it in turns to drop deep and search for a passage through the centre of the opposition block.
Below, it is Alexis Mac Allister who shows for the ball in frame one, with both Enzo Fernandez and Giovani Lo Celso positioned further forward, between the lines.
Mac Allister turns, and fires an incisive pass in to Julian Alvarez, also darting into a deeper position from his No 9 role. Dragging a defender out of position, he then flicks the ball around the oncoming challenge, allowing Lo Celso to find Angel Di Maria cutting inside onto his favoured left foot.
With such close control in tight spaces, players can continuously rotate, jumping in and out of spaces to pull the opposition around. And with the ability to pick up the pace in those tight moments, six seconds is all the time Argentina need to clock four crisp passes and a shot on goal.
GO DEEPER
Copa America 2024 squads: All 26-man selections from the 16 competing nations
Depth keeps Argentina fresh, and Scaloni is spoilt for choice when it comes to well-rounded midfielders, each bringing a different skill set to the last.
The flexibility doesn’t end there either, particularly with the emergence of Alejandro Garnacho as a viable option out wide. He is a dribbler, much more direct in his wide play, and offers a different proposition to other wingers in the squad.
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Here in their other March friendly against El Salvador, for example, we can see the familiar build-up structure, with Leandro Paredes now dropping deep. On the right, Facundo Buonanotte tucks inside, allowing his full-back to overlap, while on the left, Valentin Barco shows for the short pass and encourages Garnacho to keep the width.
With the opposition hesitant to press too high, Paredes has time to pick out the direct ball to Garnacho in behind…
…which the 19-year-old takes in stride, then cuts inside and lays a pass back for Di Maria, who forces a good save from the goalkeeper.
Swirling shapes and sharp passers mean Argentina can overwhelm low-block defences, and their physicality and athleticism in midfield mean that they can match most teams in an open game too.
Add a certain Lionel Messi into the equation, and they are going to be very tough to beat.
What are their weaknesses?
The 2-0 home defeat against Uruguay in World Cup qualifying in November showed that Argentina can be disrupted by a high-intensity press and then hit on the break. Marcelo Bielsa’s visitors had seven shots — two coming within 10 seconds of a long pass from their own half, and the other five within 10 seconds of a defensive action.
“We never felt comfortable,” said Messi after the game. “We were not able to have long possessions, did not create chances and played the game that they wanted, in their rhythm.”
And, if we’re being hypercritical, Argentina don’t often win games by very much. Three of their five wins in World Cup qualifying so far have been by a goal to nil, two of those secured by Otamendi from corners.
Holding out defensively and trying to hit Argentina hard on the break has to be the game plan for most of their opponents.
Who are the key players?
There are plenty of candidates. Messi turns 37 next week but is still capable of winning games on his own, Di Maria has been in prolific form, while Otamendi, Romero and Emiliano Martinez are the crucial defensive pillars. But it is Argentina’s strength in midfield that wins them tournaments, from the tempo-setting of Fernandez, to the natural leadership and progressive play of Rodrigo De Paul, and the all-action of Mac Allister.
In an impressive 2023-24 debut season at Liverpool, only Joao Palhinha of Fulham averaged more ‘true’ tackles per 1,000 opposition touches — a metric that measures how often a player challenges for the ball with their team out of possession — than Mac Allister in the Premier League.
Despite all of Scaloni’s options, Mac Allister’s combination of defensive tenacity, versatility and incisive attacking play will be crucial to allow the specialists further up the pitch to thrive.
Look out for…
Their battle of the No 9s.
Both of Argentina’s outstanding centre-forwards have surprisingly poor goalscoring records on the international stage in the past couple of years; Alvarez has not scored in 13 appearances going back to the World Cup semi-final against Croatia, while Lautaro Martinez — despite 27 goals in all competitions for Inter Milan last season — went 16 caps without a goal from September 2022. Though the latter has found some form with three in his last three, including two (one a penalty) at the weekend against Guatemala.
Goals can come from anywhere in this team, but Scaloni has a luxurious selection headache at the sharp end of the pitch.
Peru
- Manager: Jorge Fossati
- Captain: Paulo Guerrero
- World Cup Qualifying record: P6 W0 D2 L4 GF1 GA8
- 2021 Copa America: Fourth place
- Most caps in squad: Paulo Guerrero (119)
- Top scorer in squad: Paulo Guerrero (39)
How do they play?
A lot has changed since Peru were on the World Cup stage in Russia six years ago, much of it for the worse.
Legendary head coach Ricardo Gareca moved on — he returned to club management, but is now in charge of Group A rivals Chile — while many of the players who fired his Peru team to finishing third, second and fourth at four Copas from 2015-21 are ticking into their mid-thirties and in one case, forties. Add to that a disastrous start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, along with another managerial change, and there are understandable concerns ahead of this summer.
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Peru have turned to experience to help stem the tide, offering 71-year-old Jorge Fossati the 24th job of a career that began in 1993. He won the Peruvian title last November with Universitario — who provide five members of their Copa squad — and brings a strong tactical identity with his preferred 5-3-2 shape that will look to deliver short-term solidity across the board.
His opening two games were confidence-boosting friendly wins against Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, and he remains unbeaten after a 0-0 draw with Paraguay and a 1-0 defeat of El Salvador in this month’s two warm-up games.
Against the Dominican Republic, there were clear signs of his signature approach — wing-backs pushing on to form a 3-5-2 in possession. Two midfield receivers sit deep to offer themselves for the pass and to guard against the counter, while creative midfielder Piero Quispe is given the freedom to roam.
Without the ball, Peru were quick to collapse back into a 5-3-2, where the ball-near central midfielder can help with particularly tricky customers on the wing.
Only Bolivia have seen less of the ball during CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying so far, so their positional discipline in their defensive shape will be tested — particularly against Argentina in the final group match on June 29.
Their switch of system does raise some intriguing questions regarding personnel. Six of Peru’s all-time 10 most-capped players were all still vying for call-ups going into those warm-up matches, though those veterans in the 26 might see their roles carefully managed during the tournament with the increased intensity at the heart of Fossati’s quick-fix approach.
Three-time Copa America top scorer Paulo Guerrero is now 40, and could see his starting berth challenged by the hard-working Edison Flores, while 21-year-old Joao Grimaldo will stake a claim with his adventurous wing play and channel running. Alongside Gianluca Lapadula — himself now 34 — Peru require energy up top, a player who can both press, but also drop deeper and link the midfield with the forward line.
The last time Peru failed to make it out of the Copa America group stage was in 1995, 10 tournaments ago — an impressive record that may well be under threat.
What are their weaknesses?
In six World Cup qualifying games, Peru have mustered just seven shots on target and scored that one goal (in a 1-1 draw with Venezuela in November).
Lacking the technical quality to control possession, they sacrificed creativity for defensive grit in midfield under previous coach Juan Reynoso. Fossati will need his team to show more ambition on the ball to get players forward to heal an unproductive relationship between midfield and attack.
His wing-back system could help, particularly with the relentless Luis Advincula charging down their right to provide more crosses for Guerrero.
Who are the key players?
He may only have six caps to his name, but 22-year-old Quispe is Peru’s next great hope.
Combining aggressive ball-winning with adventurous dribbling, many see the midfielder as a natural successor to Christian Cueva, the now 32-year-old maverick in Gareca’s era-defining team.
Quispe’s first and so far only international goal, against the Dominican Republic in March, showcased his strengths; the energy and proactivity to break out of midfield and close down a hesitant defender, positivity to drive forward and receive a one-two in the box, and composure to drop a shoulder, send a defender the wrong way and finish into the far corner.
Things have not been easy for Quispe since a big move to Mexican side Pumas in January — he has faced intense scrutiny for his stuttering output from an attacking role.
Peru lack another player of his profile, however, and having shone under Fossati at club level on the left of a midfield three last season, he will continue to carry the creative burden.
Look out for…
Retiring legends. Guerrero, Advincula, Cueva, forward Andre Carrillo and goalkeeper Pedro Gallese are all surely playing their final international tournaments.
Many still have what it takes to make an impact this summer, not least Advincula, who can still thunder down the right flank with pace and power unlike pretty much anybody in South American football.
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Gallese, long considered one of the best goalkeepers on the continent, can expect to be busy too, while Guerrero needs three goals to equal the record of 17 at Copa America tournaments.
There will be plenty of emotional goodbyes.
Chile
- Manager: Ricardo Gareca
- Captain: Claudio Bravo
- World Cup Qualifying record: P6 W1 D2 L3 GF3 GA7
- 2021 Copa America: Quarterfinals
- Most caps in squad: Alexis Sanchez (163)
- Top scorer in squad: Alexis Sanchez (51)
How do they play?
Much of what we’ve just said about Peru — a calamitous World Cup qualifying campaign, a recent change in manager, and a rapidly aging core of key players — can be copied and pasted here about their fierce Pacific Coast rivals.
With just five points from six games, Chile have made their worst-ever start to a World Cup qualifying campaign.
Struggling head coach Eduardo Berizzo resigned after a drab goalless draw at home to Paraguay in December, clearing the way for Gareca — who led Peru to a historic Copa America final in 2019 — to take the reins. Keep an eye out for that contentious reunion in the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium on Friday (early Saturday in the UK).
Personal history aside, it took Gareca all of two friendly matches to leave his imprint on the team.
A 3-0 win over Euro 2024 qualifiers Albania (a match played in Italy) displayed a newfound intensity in Chile’s attacking play, while a 3-2 away defeat against France in their other fixture of the March international break was notable for their off-the-ball organisation against one of the world’s best teams. They pasted Paraguay 3-0 last week in their only pre-Copa warm-up match, scoring all their goals by the 53rd minute.
A tactical non-negotiable for Gareca is a four-man defensive structure, and that day against France in Marseille, his compact 4-4-2 block pressed high as a unit on sideways and backwards passes.
Below for example, as France move the ball out to the full-back, three Chilean players anticipate the sideways pass and jump forward; Alexis Sanchez applies pressure to the centre-back, Marcelino Nunez follows his man into midfield, while Victor Davila pushes high onto the receiver.
The ball is eventually played down the line to Ousmane Dembele, but full-back Gabriel Suazo also steps up and barges the ball out of play.
Such an aggressive pressing system carries inherent risk and requires buy-in from the whole team; when one player engages, those behind him must also commit in support. But just as Gareca’s methods previously galvanised Peru, the early signs suggest that his more front-footed approach is helping to tap into the competitive spirit of this Chile squad.
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With the ball, too, Chile have drastically picked up the pace under new management, looking to stretch the pitch and reach the final third as quickly and directly as possible.
The desire to progress the ball more efficiently was reflected in Gareca’s first two squad selections, recalling neat ball-playing centre-back Igor Lichnovsky for his first international appearances since 2019, while consecutive starts for 41-year-old Real Betis goalkeeper Claudio Bravo after a year out of the national team were his only minutes at any level since November.
Now up to 148 caps, former Barcelona and Manchester City keeper Bravo is assured in possession, happy to step out of his penalty area and sweep the ball from side to side. From the goal kick below, we can see that his confidence allows the centre-backs to split, and the full-backs to push high and wide.
With the opposition opting to stay compact and block out the middle, the diagonal pass opens up.
In this sequence, Paulo Diaz bypasses the first line of pressure with a long ball out to Mauricio Isla, drawing the attention of France left-back Theo Hernandez.
While the ball is still in flight, Dario Osorio attacks the space in behind, and can receive the pass down the line from Isla. From two passes, Chile have four attacking players onto the last line.
It may be early, but Gareca’s energetic brand of football already looks to have brought belief flooding back.
What are their weaknesses?
Chile have lots of experience at the back but their profiles are not always complimentary.
On the flanks, Isla and Suazo are dangerous going forward, but can be beaten easily in a one-v-one — no full-back was dribbled past more often than the latter in Ligue 1 last season. Centre-backs Guillermo Maripan and Diaz lack pace and lose too many aerial duels, and although Bravo brings improved distribution, his long-range shot-stopping can sometimes let him down, as he demonstrated during his time in the Premier League.
Even if the game plan is executed perfectly, individual moments of defensive weakness and lapses of concentration threaten to undermine their efforts upfield.
Who are the key players?
With Arturo Vidal omitted from the squad at age 37, Chile will be looking to Marcelino Nunez for energy and defensive spirit in midfield.
The 24-year-old came on leaps and bounds at Norwich City of the second-tier Championship last season, settling in after a difficult start to life in English football following his summer 2022 move.
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An excitable attacking player, comfortable receiving on the half-turn and always looking for the defence-splitting pass, his club manager David Wagner remarked on his increasing reliability in possession as his decision-making improves. Nunez is intense without the ball too, and has already shown that he can meet Gareca’s demands when it comes to following in behind the first line of pressure.
Whether Chile are bunkered in or looking for attacking inspiration, Nunez will be a crucial midfield cog.
Look out for…
An exciting talent on the wing in 20-year-old Dario Osorio.
He scored his first senior international goal in that March friendly against France — a thumping finish to add to his collection of spectacular strikes last season for Danish club Midtjylland — but impressed more generally with a robust performance that demonstrated his technical ability and forward drive.
Darío Osorio 🤩🇨🇱 pic.twitter.com/KlB2SS97qB
— FC Midtjylland (@fcmidtjylland) March 27, 2024
Midtjylland made Osorio their most expensive signing at the start of last season, and are a club with a reputation for developing elite attacking players then selling them on. Drifting in from the right, he scored eight goals with his dangerous left foot, and looked comfortable operating in tight spaces.
He will play alongside the 35-year-old Alexis Sanchez in the summer, but there are hopes that Osorio can be his long-term successor.
Canada
- Manager: Jesse Marsch
- Captain: Alphonso Davies
- Post-2022 World Cup record: P14 W6 D3 L5 GF23 GA21
- 2022 World Cup: Group stage
- Most caps in squad: Jonathan Osorio (72)
- Top scorer in squad: Cyle Larin (29)
How do they play?
This will be Canada’s first appearance as a guest nation at the Copa America, and expectations ahead of their debut are… mixed.
In Alphonso Davies — who has been appointed captain ahead of the tournament — and Jonathan David, they possess genuine star quality; arguably the two best players in North and Central American football. Vice-captain Stephen Eustaquio has grown into his all-action midfield role at the heart of the team, Ismael Kone has quickly become indispensable beside him, while tough-tackling full-back Alistair Johnston hit a rich vein of late-season form in Scotland with Celtic.
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Nonetheless, since losing influential manager John Herdman to MLS club Toronto in August, their form has taken a wobble.
Interim coach Mauro Biello held the fort through the Nations League campaign at the end of last year, and while the appointment of Jesse Marsch last month is undoubtedly exciting, there are concerns that he hasn’t had the time to fine-tune his high-energy style of play in time for this tournament. Marsch’s first two games have been testing friendlies against the Netherlands and France, and while the first ended in a breathless 4-0 defeat, their goalless draw in the other was an encouraging sign that Canada can adapt their intensity and stay compact.
As always, much of the tactical thinking will revolve around Bayern Munich’s Davies.
In a dynamic, and fairly dominant opening 45 minutes against Jamaica in November — a game they would ultimately lose 3-2 — it looked as if Biello had found an exciting formula Marsch could take inspiration from.
As the pass network below illustrates — outlining frequent passing combinations and average positions of players throughout the game — both Davies (19) and Tajon Buchanan (11) were extremely advanced, while left-back Richie Laryea (22) offered plenty going forward, with overlaps to take players away from Davies and quick combinations to allow Canada to escape down the line.
Below, for example, we see Canada building up with the back four in possession, with two midfielders offering themselves for the pass. David also drops deep, he’s a capable ball receiver in those pockets of space, while Davies stays high and wide.
Laryea carries the ball forward in frame two, before a quick one-two with Kone allows him to foray forward with the ball at his feet. Drawing defenders in, he slips the ball through to Davies, with all of Canada’s attackers converging on the penalty area.
With this squad’s pace and explosive acceleration in wide areas, quick combinations and counter-attacks are often the source of their most incisive attacks down the flanks.
“I have to get to know these players more carefully before I can fully answer,” Marsch told The Athletic, in response to the all-important question, “but clearly, I don’t want Davies to just be a defender.
“I want him to be a big part of how we attack and how we’re aggressive in possession and in transition.”
What are their weaknesses?
For a team with so much potential on the transition, Canada can’t rely on their defensive structure to keep them in games for long enough. Of the eight goals they conceded in four games under Biello, seven could be pinned on a defensive lapse.
In that 3-2 loss to Jamaica in Toronto, both Eustaquio and Kone were dispossessed in build-up, before the former gave away the decisive penalty with a clumsy handball. Four days earlier in the first leg of that Nations League quarter-final, a 2-1 away win for Canada, they were not switched on from a quick free kick, while a 4-1 defeat in Japan featured a miscued clearance, a calamitous own goal and another loss of possession leading directly to a dangerous attack.
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Biello used four different centre-backs in those matches, while legendary goalkeeper Milan Borjan — left out of the Copa squad by Marsch at age 36 — has been replaced by Maxime Crepeau since that Jamaica tie.
Particularly if Canada want to make the most out of wing-back roles for Davies and Buchanan, they need more security across the back line.
Who are the key players?
Mentioning his name eight times in this preview already might have given it away, but Davies is the undoubted difference-maker in this side. And not just for his incredible speed: the 23-year-old popped up with a goal and an assist in that second leg against Jamaica, made seven tackles in the play-off game against Trinidad and Tobago in March that saw them qualify for the Copa America, and won a penalty in the October friendly against Japan.
He offers their most direct and devastating route to the opposition penalty area, and can bring composure on the ball when he comes inside.
David will be essential too, both from a playmaking and goalscoring perspective. As his shot map from last season suggests, he can be extremely effective at making space in the penalty box, and has scored at least 15 league goals in each of his past three seasons at Lille in France’s top flight.
Look out for…
David’s strike partner Cyle Larin.
The 29-year-old is the record goalscorer for the Canadian men’s national team and got the all-important opener against Trinidad and Tobago, but has endured a tough season in front of goal for Mallorca in Spain’s La Liga.
According to Opta data, no player in Europe’s big five leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, Serie A in Italy and France’s Ligue 1) under-performed their expected goals (xG) figure more than he did in 2023-24, scoring just three times in 35 league appearances from 69 shots.
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Larin was more clinical in the Copa del Rey, scoring four in seven as Mallorca got to the final, and is a towering physical presence who can operate cleanly with his back to goal, but Canada’s No 9 will need to find his shooting boots sooner rather than later at this tournament.
(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)