Another week, another Radar.
The Copa America is nearly upon us, so here is The Athletic’s scouting guide for the tournament, which is taking place in the United States.
The fun kicks off with the holders Argentina, who have a pretty decent No 10 you should keep an eye on, taking on Canada at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday night (June 20).
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We’ve profiled 50 players to watch — from established stars to rising prospects — so you feel well-prepared when Dario Osorio emerges as one of the best young talents in the tournament…
Our brilliant team have provided a bespoke data visualisation for each of them, too. (All the data is correct as of June 15.)
There is at least one player from each of the 16 nations taking part (yes, we’ve picked a few Americans) — even after Leon Bailey rejected Jamaica’s call-up. Thanks for stepping up at short notice, Demarai Gray. Sorry if your favourite player hasn’t made the cut.
Click to expand and collapse each card, and you can use the filters to sort players by nation, group, club or position.
You can also listen to the corresponding podcast series on The Athletic FC Podcast, profiling 12 of the most exciting young players across both the Euros and Copa America this summer. Click here to listen free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all the usual places.
Thank you to everyone who has been involved: Thom Harris, Jeff Rueter, Felipe Cardenas, Jack Lang, Elias Burke, Mark Carey, Michael Cox, Nancy Froston, John Muller, Paul Tenorio, Joshua Kloke, Adam Leventhal, Dermot Corrigan, Marc Mazzoni, John Bradford, Justin Guthrie, Liam Tharme, Stuart James, Caoimhe O’Neill, Andy Jones, Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero, Chris Waugh and George Caulkin.
Enjoy!
Lionel Messi
This summer, Lionel Messi will lead his country on another emotional quest as they look to win a second consecutive Copa America.
Perhaps it’s fitting now that Messi, considered the sport’s greatest-ever player, will enter the tournament with a World Cup winner’s medal and a Copa America trophy. Before Copa America 2021, his international career seemed destined to go unfulfilled.
Today, the 36-year-old superstar is unburdened by those pressures, which makes this year’s Copa America an outlier within Messi’s storied career. It’s no longer about the chase to succeed Diego Maradona. It’s no longer about immortality. Messi reached legend status at the World Cup in Qatar. Now sun-kissed by the Miami sun, he is the face of Major League Soccer in the United States. Gone are the demands of elite-level football. Messi is comfortable in his final chapter as a professional.
As you can see below, that final chapter consists of deeper, more central involvement in his side’s build-up. Much like he is for his country, Messi is the catalyst for any attacking sequence worth watching at Inter Miami, as his team-mates look to their talisman to pull another rabbit out of the hat.
The Argentina national team, though, is not allowed to get complacent. The world champions have a third star above their badge and a new target on their backs. The group wasn’t spoiled by the success of the 2021 Copa America. Instead, Argentina became more formidable. That has motivated Messi to play in what is likely to be his final international tournament with Argentina.
But Messi in 2024 is a different player, one who no longer dominates games on his own, but who is still among the best matchwinners in the world. His vision and decision-making are as fine-tuned as you would expect.
So, how much will Messi have left this summer?
“I know that as soon as I believe that I can no longer perform, or no longer enjoy the game, or if I can’t help my team-mates, then I will stop,” Messi told the podcast Big Time in March, which was broadcast on Saudi Arabian TV. “I am really self-critical; I know when I am good and when I am bad. So for my retirement, it will not matter what age I am. If I feel good, I will keep playing.”
In MLS, Messi has predictably owned the league with his play. Flashes of brilliance, sold-out stadiums and the desire to win have defined his stint in America. Messi has settled in the U.S., but settling for anything less than another international trophy isn’t on the cards for the former Barcelona No. 10.
Now, his adopted country will be the stage for what could be one last victory lap.
Felipe Cardenas
Alexis Mac Allister
It’s hard to believe that one of the Premier League’s best midfielders nearly watched the 2022 World Cup at home in Buenos Aires.
Two years ago, Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister was an understudy to Tottenham Hotspur’s Giovani Lo Celso. When Lo Celso had hamstring surgery before the tournament, Mac Allister, then with Brighton & Hove Albion, moved into Argentina’s midfield three and never looked back. His performances for Argentina in Qatar were consistently top-level.
Before the 25-year-old broke out with Brighton in 2021, he had carried the weight of being the son of a famous father in Argentina. The elder Carlos was a teammate of Diego Maradona’s at Boca Juniors and for the national team, and remains well respected in Argentina. Alexis, though, flew under the radar at the start of his career, a far cry from the status he holds now among the world’s top central midfielders.
Known for his accurate right foot and a keen sense of positional awareness (and his, well, unique laugh), Mac Allister is the engine of Argentina’s midfield. After the World Cup in Qatar, national team manager Lionel Scaloni credited Mac Allister and Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez with changing how Argentina’s central midfield play.
For decades, the middle of the park was occupied by tough-tackling hardmen, including Diego Simeone and Javier Mascherano. Under Scaloni, Mac Allister has added verticality and ball progression to Argentina’s midfield. It’s no wonder that Mac Allister has settled into Premier League football. He epitomizes the modern footballer. Mac Allister can run for days, spray the ball around the pitch and read defenses from a deep-lying midfield position.
This is shown in his pass sonar below, which visualises the direction and distance of a player’s passes. No matter where he plays, his ability to keep his balance and find the necessary pass to look after his side’s possession is a trait that cannot be underestimated.
Mac Allister can play in a box-to-box role or as a No 10, allowing Messi to play with more freedom. He’s constantly around the ball and has a propensity to play forward. Those traits make him a crucial part of Argentina’s tactics. If he has a subpar performance at the Copa America, the affable Mac Allister has a simple way of reframing his mindset.
“If I have a bad day, just thinking about that month (in Qatar) that we had together and remembering that I’m a World Cup champion makes everything better,” he said in 2023.
Now fully entrenched in Scaloni’s starting XI, this summer Mac Allister can build upon his continued evolution and go from surprise inclusion to international star with his national team.
Felipe Cardenas
Julian Alvarez
By the age of 23, Julian Alvarez had won the Copa Libertadores, the Copa America, the World Cup and the Champions League. He had essentially completed football, sampling success in everything there was to win.
At the same time, it feels like everyone is still figuring out precisely what Alvarez is. He was introduced to us as a pure No 9, but gatecrashed Argentina’s World Cup starting XI because he could fill in defensively for the increasingly languid Lionel Messi. Alvarez was therefore almost a No 9 when Argentina were on the attack, but the highest midfielder without the ball.
He’s more than happy to do Messi’s dirty work. Having grown up idolising Messi, Alvarez asked him for a photo together the first time he was called up to the national side. “Nobody imagined Julian would have the participation and importance he has shown,” said Messi midway through the World Cup win. “The help he has given us has been absolutely spectacular.”
For Manchester City at the start of the season, Alvarez often found himself stepping in for the injured Kevin De Bruyne, playing as something between a classic No 8 and a strike partner for the prolific Erling Haaland. He’s not the only player who feels somewhere between a No 8 and a No 9, a midfielder and a striker in one.
Perhaps as a consequence, Alvarez’s goal return has suffered a little. When he scored two against Croatia in the 3-0 World Cup semi-final win, that took Alvarez onto seven goals from 18 caps. Now, he’s still on seven goals, but from 30 caps.
He managed 11 Premier League goals this season, including nine non-penalty goals. As seen below in his shot map, a healthy smattering came from long range and he was still getting into good goalscoring positions.
Overall, his figures represent a decent return — especially considering he wasn’t always played through the middle — but he’s not quite yet prolific in top-level football.
Alvarez is essentially fighting with Lautaro Martinez, the man he displaced from the World Cup starting XI, to lead the line this summer. Martinez lacks Alvarez’s pressing ability, and he is accustomed to playing in a cohesive strike partnership rather than playing primarily to get the best from Messi. Martinez has enjoyed an excellent campaign, captaining Inter to Serie A success, but he’s only managed one goal in his last 10 caps.
Alvarez is the man in pole position to lead the line. Lionel Scaloni has suggested they can play together but that seems unlikely for as long as Messi is fit to start.
Michael Cox
Alejandro Garnacho
You’ve already heard that Alejandro Garnacho loves Cristiano Ronaldo. The Manchester United winger has never shied away from his admiration for Lionel Messi’s on-pitch nemesis. It’s not too surprising, either. The Madrid-born Garnacho, 19, plays with a similar flair that defined Ronaldo’s time at Old Trafford.
Certainly, Garnacho has oceans to go before he can be compared with one of the sport’s greatest players.Garnacho’s rise at United, though, has coincided with his gradual inclusion in Argentina’s senior national team.
After starting as a Spain youth international at under-18 level in 2021, Garnacho committed to playing for Argentina (his mother is Argentine) after Lionel Scaloni included him in a 44-man preliminary World Cup qualifying squad before the 2022 World Cup.
After a few promising performances with Argentina Under-20s, Garnacho made his senior debut as a substitute just over a year ago against Australia. He made his first start under Scaloni in a friendly against Costa Rica in March. That night, Garnacho was active on the left wing and confident in his abilities.
He’s an entertainer on the ball, a player with game-changing speed and the desire to make a difference. Scaloni, however, has done his best to temper the often unachievable expectations that are placed on so-called wonderkids.
“There’s no sense in rushing him. We can be so quick to elevate these players,” Scaloni said after Garnacho’s debut last June. “He’s 18 years old. It’s on the coaches to guide him step by step and give him the required minutes.”
Garnacho should become a mainstay when Argentina moves past Messi, Angel Di Maria and others after 2024. He is among a handful of players 23 or younger who will represent Argentina at the 2026 World Cup in North America. For now, Garnacho is hoping that this summer’s Copa America will be his breakout international tournament.
Looking at his off-ball movement in a Manchester United shirt, you can see how often he will look to get on the end of an attack. Using data from SkillCorner, a high proportion of his runs in the 2023-24 season were beyond his team-mate (the red ’ahead of the ball’ boxes below) and in behind the defensive line, or an approach into the box to get on the end of a cross (the orange ’cross receiver’ boxes).
It’s telling that Garnacho was selected for the Copa America rather than for Argentina’s Olympic team, which predominantly comprises under-23s. Scaloni knows Argentina lacks depth on the wing.
The world champions are a bit long in the tooth, as well. Scaloni has made an effort recently to include younger players in the side to prepare for the eventual post-Copa America squad transition. Garnacho is an obvious choice to add spark to a team that is led by a 36-year-old Messi.
At United, Garnacho has become a player for big moments. If he can do the same for his country, his rapid rise will quickly go stratospheric.
Felipe Cardenas
Emiliano Martinez
When France striker Kolo Muani unleashed his shot in the 123rd minute of the 2022 World Cup final, millions of Argentinians held their collective breath. Emiliano Martinez’s save with his left foot prevented a tragedy — instead, the goalkeeper and his Argentina team-mates became World Cup legends.
That reflex save by Martinez has been immortalized in Argentina with murals and tattoos. It also propelled Martinez into Argentina football lore. Martinez’s personality, brash and controversial, endeared him to his compatriots even more. The Aston Villa star has embraced it.
His penalty-saving dance is being replicated by kids across South America. Before big matches, he dons colorful hairstyles, often inspired by the blue and white stripes of the Argentina kit. Goalkeeping, as they say, is cool again thanks to Argentina’s World Cup hero.
Martinez is a skilled short-range shot stopper. His reflexes are impressive and as an imposing physical presence, he commands his box well. In statistical terms, only Wolves’ Jose Sa had a higher ’goals prevented’ figure — which calculates the overperformance of a goalkeeper’s shot-stopping based on the quality of shots they were expected to concede — than Martinez in 2023-24, preventing nearly nine goals above expectation across a consistently strong campaign.
He is confident in the air and comfortable with the ball at his feet. Generally speaking, Martinez has used his top-tier skills to back up the gamesmanship that he uses to intimidate his opponents. His antics, though, have angered many across the globe.
Former France and Arsenal great Patrick Viera branded Martinez’s World Cup celebrations as unnecessary and “stupid”. Martinez made a vulgar gesture with the Golden Glove award he won in Qatar. He also mocked Kylian Mbappe after Argentina’s triumph. In South America, Martinez has become a goalkeeper that opposing players relish scoring against.
It’s all part of Martinez’s cult of personality in Argentina. The national team have always produced quality goalkeepers, but few have been viewed as equals to Argentina’s star players, led by Lionel Messi. In 2023, he was named Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper. Shortly after, Martinez told ESPN Argentina that he and his team-mates would win back-to-back Copa America titles.
“We’ve won everything on the international level,” he said. “We’re going to win the next Copa America and hopefully the next World Cup. When I’m playing in goal, I feel like I can be the best (in the world).”
Argentina has the goalkeeper that they needed to help Messi finally reach the pinnacle of the sport. This summer, Martinez could be the reason the defending Copa America champions lift yet another trophy.
Felipe Cardenas
Jonathan David
Until players with rich potential move to one of Europe’s biggest four leagues (the top flights in England, Spain, Germany and Italy), there is always going to be questions about whether they can handle the jump in competition and demands.
Those questions are understandable, but from where Jonathan David stands — or, more accurately, runs as he sniffs out his next scoring chance — the Canada forward has never been more ready for the next stage in his career and, perhaps, stardom.
David’s story is built on him doing things on his terms: he spurned advances from multiple Canadian MLS clubs as a youth player and went straight to Gent in Belgium at 17. He’s an ego-free attacker who strides with a distinct upright posture and can occupy multiple roles on the pitch: a pure No 9, a second striker or even a wide player. He doesn’t buy into the idea of celebrity the way other goalscorers might.
And, most importantly, when it comes to Jonathan David in 2024, he is producing at a rate that showcases growth in his game and should make him attractive to prospective buyers from Europe’s top leagues.
In his fourth season with Lille, David hit highs in non-penalty goals and assists per 90 minutes (0.72), and non-penalty expected goals (xG) and expected assists per 90 minutes (0.63). Looking just at his chance generation, the graphic below shows how his non-penalty-xG-per-90 figure has subtly grown with every season in France’s top division.
It’s a byproduct of him becoming a smarter and more clinical player. He’s never been the type to score out-of-this-world bangers. Instead, he quietly glides past players around him and cleverly finds the right places to get a shot away. In the 2023-24 season, his movement was better and he seemed to have a greater read on defenders in Ligue 1.
David is ready for a greater challenge. Fortunately for Canada, his best self often emerges when he pulls on an international shirt. The former Canada head coach John Herdman dubbed him the “Iceman” because he often spends games lurking behind their target man Cyle Larin and pouncing on loose balls in the box.
He is only three goals behind Larin as Canada’s all-time leading goalscorer. This could be the summer that David not only matches the tally of his podcast co-host but also shows the world what he is capable of.
Joshua Kloke
Ismael Kone
After Canada’s first game at the 2022 World Cup, their coach, John Herdman, was faced with a pressing question: should he continue to rely on central midfield stalwart Atiba Hutchinson, then 39, or turn the keys over to his heir apparent, the 20-year-old Ismael Kone?
Hutchinson was missing a step, but Kone was raw (just seven caps!) and had a world of upside. Herdman stuck with Hutchinson in their second game and by the time Kone entered at half-time, the damage was done. Croatia’s midfield had run them ragged.
No Canada coach would make that mistake again. Since the World Cup, Kone has every game that he’s been available for.
The centre of the park has looked night and day thanks to Kone’s deft turns with the ball and smooth, game-changing dribbling. Softly spoken but consistently upbeat, he has become the Canadian midfielder of the present and the future.
Kone was schooled not in professional academies but in Montreal parks. He began his career in a semi-professional league and once he did sign with Montreal in MLS, he was taught plenty of hard lessons about life as a professional.
Doing so has helped him excel in England. Kone possesses the physical traits that make him a rarity. At 6ft 2in (188cm) and with more speed in his game than he often lets on, Kone has become a regular for Watford across a variety of coaches.
His best stint this season saw him score three goals and add an assist in nine matches in the middle of the season. As shown below, you can see how much ground he covers as he marauds across the pitch — making it difficult to pin him down to a specific area.
With the ability to play a slick ball through traffic and pick out powerful and well-placed shots, Kone has become arguably Canada’s most important player in possession. Any build-up play through weaker opponents takes flight when Kone takes charge.
There’s little fear in how he approaches games, regardless of the opponent. His tactical know-how is still a work in progress but with good reason. It’s worth remembering that Kone will handle all these responsibilities at Copa America having turned 22 on June 16.
Everything he’s done and everything he is capable of suggests this summer could be an important one for Kone. His contract with Watford runs through 2027 but the Championship will hardly be his last step.
And so this summer could be when the soccer world learns what so many people back home are only just now learning, too — that Kone is the latest in a line of talented Canadians to make an impact with the national team at a young age and be destined for bigger things.
Joshua Kloke
Tajon Buchanan
A January move to the Serie A champions Inter Milan was entirely justified but Tajon Buchanan could still turn heads as a relative unknown at Copa America this summer.
The Canada midfielder emerged as one of the most talented youngsters in Major League Soccer between 2019 and 2021, showing remarkable pace and technical quality, and that earned him a transfer to Club Bruges in Belgium.
He possesses a fearless attitude and has the ability to raise his game and create chances in the biggest moments, a fine trait to have.
Buchanan’s most underrated quality is his positional versatility. For Canada, he’s been at his most dominant as a right-winger. From there, he set up their first-ever goal in a men’s World Cup in 2022 with a perfectly placed cross for Alphonso Davies that still doesn’t get the credit it deserves.
While he’s played exclusively as a left midfielder for Inter in the second half of the season, he played mostly on the right side as a winger, midfielder and full-back for Club Bruges and New England Revolution, as the graphic below demonstrates.
Buchanan started playing competitive soccer later than his peers and took an unconventional path to the professional level. He spurned a possible stint in Toronto’s academy to move with a youth soccer coach to Colorado and his career began in full at Syracuse University. It’s rare for NCAA players to join European leagues but that’s just another example of the rapid nature of Buchanan’s rise.
Even though he didn’t appear a huge amount at the start in Milan, few in Canadian soccer doubted that he would work his way into contention. His minutes have steadily increased and in May, he became the first Canadian to score in Serie A, netting the third of Inter’s 5-0 win against Frosinone.
“(Buchanan) has gone through all the levels in his development to reach the top,” former Canada interim head coach Mauro Biello said, “and is a perfect example of hard work and perseverance for young Canadians who want to reach the next level.”
The 25-year-old is improving all the time, particularly when it comes to his tactical awareness and defensive responsibilities. His decision-making in front of goal has also come on, and there has never been any doubt that he has the kind of qualities and footwork that can fool defenders and entertain fans in the process.
He will do more of the latter than any other Canadian this summer.
Joshua Kloke
Alphonso Davies
For the first time in a career that has become one of soccer’s feel-good stories, Alphonso Davies finds himself at a crossroads.
Born in a Ghana refugee camp, Davies emigrated to Canada and was welcomed by a community program that allowed him to start playing soccer free of charge. He was scouted by the Vancouver Whitecaps and became one of the youngest players in MLS history. Davies handled every challenge with the same beaming grin and carefree attitude that alleviated any problem around him.
At 17, he became arguably the highest-profile transfer out of MLS in 2018 with a move to Bayern Munich. His elite speed, dribbling ability and attacking mindset turned him into one of the best — and most marketable — left-backs in the world. And when Davies leapt into the air to head home Canada’s first-ever goal in a men’s World Cup in 2022, a nation that welcomed him leapt along too.
But since that World Cup goal, there’s been a little less to smile about for the player himself and those who watch him.
He has become one of Bayern’s longest-serving players but a possible move to Real Madrid has gone from a shining light in the distance to a dark cloud hanging overhead. With one year left on his contract at Bayern, questions about his commitment to the club have dogged him. Reports about a verbal agreement with Madrid have persisted.
His form dipped slightly for Bayern in 2023-24. Late in the season, Davies was used more as a midfielder than a left-back to better make use of his attacking instincts. Some growing pains can be expected there.
But the move showcased his potential, too. His stunning long-range goal in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Madrid was the best of his career.
This summer, he will again attempt to push Canada into the conversation as one of the world’s better international teams and will likely do so from a midfield spot. As you can see in the graphic below, Davies was used in more of an advanced position in the 2022 World Cup as his country’s most threatening player going forward — most often occupying the right half-space as he tried to kickstart Canada’s attack.
“We have to put our best players in positions where they can be at their best,” Canada coach Jesse Marsch told The Athletic. “But clearly, I don’t want him 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.”
No player in CONCACAF can turn a game on its head like Davies. His up-and-down performances at the 2022 World Cup can be explained by his need to constantly change role. Going up against some of the world’s best at Copa America in one single position could help stabilize his future on the pitch.
But even as he does, his club future is not assured. Will he move to Madrid? Or will Bayern tempt him to stay?
Joshua Kloke
Dario Osorio
Watch two minutes of any highlights reel of Dario Osorio on YouTube and you will quickly learn why many of Europe’s top clubs are tracking him.
Osorio left Universidad de Chile, one of Chile’s most successful clubs, last summer to join Midtjylland in Denmark. With eight goals in 23 league appearances in his first season in Europe, it would be no surprise if the 20-year-old carried on his upward trajectory with a move to an elite league in the coming transfer windows.
Looking at his 0.73 goal contributions per 90 minutes shows just how key Osorio was in Midtjylland’s attack in the Danish Superliga, bagging a goal or assist at a rate that was well above one every two games.
At 6ft (183cm) with an impressive turn of pace and a wand of a left foot, Osorio resembles the Chelsea and England forward Cole Palmer. He is a fluid and technical dribbler who primarily plays from the right wing, though he can play as a No 10 or as a ’traditional’ winger on the left. But removing him from his favoured position on the right negates one of his strongest qualities, a fierce long-distance shot.
Perhaps the best example of his world-class shooting ability came in early April in a 2-2 draw against Copenhagen.
After a Copenhagen defender headed away a cross intended for the penalty spot, the ball bounced into the path of Osorio, who stepped towards it, set himself, and arrowed a left-footed shot into the top-left corner of the net. His senior career is only around two years old but he has already built an impressive catalogue of spectacular goals.
Still, he is not the finished article. After arriving from Chile, where the style of play is slower and less intense, Osorio took a while to adapt to the pace and counter-pressing of Danish football. For Universidad, he was free to focus primarily on attacking without much defensive consideration. In Denmark, he has worked on his defensive game by spending time in the gym to become more robust and durable. He has also become a more aggressive defender on the training pitch and in matches when tracking opposition attacking players.
The focus on the less fashionable side of the game results in Osorio occasionally having less attacking influence for periods, but he is developing in that area.
Osorio’s commitment also extends to his efforts to learn English. He dedicates three lessons per week to the language and immerses himself in English-speaking media with his wife. Training sessions at Midtjylland are delivered in English, paving the way for a smoother transition to the Premier League.
If it is not the Premier League, Osorio will almost certainly end up in one of Europe’s top-five leagues if he continues this impressive development trend. With the world watching Copa America this summer, that move may come sooner rather than later.
Elias Burke
Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez is the greatest footballer in Chilean history.
He is not merely his nation’s most capped player and their top goalscorer, he has also been the poster boy for a generation that secured their first trophy when lifting the Copa America in 2015 and 2016, winning the Golden Ball (awarded to the best player) in the 2016 edition.
Recent years have been tougher for Chile. They have failed to qualify for either of the last two World Cups and have the classic problem for ’golden generations’ — the next set of players is never anywhere near as good.
Chile are relying on over-30s who are a decade past their best and can’t play the intense pressing style they depended on during their glory years. But Sanchez, now 35, has proved useful up front for Inter Milan this season, contributing some key goals during their title-winning season.
Tactically, Sanchez’s career has been highly varied. He came to prominence as a right-winger in a high-pressing Chile side, but was also starring as a No 10 in a counter-attacking Udinese. He then moved to Barcelona and their possession-based style, often playing as a No 9. At Arsenal, he was most regularly fielded from the left.
His move to Manchester United coincided with a sharp physical decline. In latter years, Sanchez has become more of a conventional striker — not as explosive but still good at protecting the ball. He often seems happiest in a strike pairing, which is why Inter’s approach has suited him well. In fairness, he can still go past a defender, more by using trickery than speed these days.
His contribution to his side’s attack is shown in the graphic below looking at his shot-creating actions, which denote the two attacking actions that lead to a shot. As you can see, he is most dangerous with his open-play passes for team-mates ahead of him, resorting to his stronger creative vision in light of his declining pace.
Sanchez is out of contract midway through the Copa America, with most expecting him to return to South America, the move almost everyone from his generation — Gary Medel, Mauricio Isla, Arturo Vidal, Eduardo Vargas — has done in recent years. It is 16 years since he left South America, and 17 since he left Chile.
This will almost certainly be Sanchez’s final Copa America and it’s unlikely Chile will triumph for a third time — but as the main man when they twice won this tournament, there is perhaps no other player in the competition to whom it will mean so much.
Michael Cox
Paolo Guerrero
Paolo Guerrero is more than Peru’s No 9. He is their talisman, captain and one of the nation’s most famous celebrities.
Off the field, he was involved in a doping scandal before the 2018 World Cup that made international news, encouraging a successful campaign led by fellow Group C captains Hugo Lloris, Simon Kjaer and Mile Jedinak to allow him to play. Most recently, he appeared on Peruvian national news pleading for his family’s safety after his mother and his ex-partner, who is the mother of one of his children, were threatened by the local mafia.
On the field, he scored the winning goal in the Club World Cup final, captained his nation to their first World Cup appearance in 36 years, and finished as Copa America’s top scorer on three occasions. It is no wonder he was preferred to Gonzalo Higuain and Luis Suarez when the International Federation of Football History & Statistics was picking its South American team of the 2010s.
Despite being 40, he is expected to feature significantly for Jorge Fossati’s side this summer as Peru struggle to find a replacement for his goals and influence.
Guerrero’s play style hasn’t changed significantly since his prime years. At his best, he was the prototypical traditional No 9 — tall, athletic, and dogged in and out of possession. Nowadays, he does the same things, albeit a little slower.
Guerrero appeared in both of Peru’s March internationals, starting once in a 2-0 win over Nicaragua and coming off the bench in a 4-1 victory over the Dominican Republic. Against Nicaragua, he led the line with Gianluca Lapadula in a wing-back system.
While he did not get on the scoresheet in that game, he had four shots in 66 minutes and was a constant threat. Against the Dominican Republic, Guerrero scored in second-half stoppage time from the penalty spot — his first goal for Peru since the 3-1 defeat to Brazil in the 2019 Copa America final.
While Peru were heavy favourites in both fixtures, they will face considerably sterner tests against Group A opponents Argentina, Chile, and Canada. When Argentina last played Peru in October, they had 66 per cent of possession on their way to a 2-0 victory. For Peru to succeed this summer, Guerrero will be expected to dedicate most of his running to consolidating their defensive shape.
Having missed the 2021 tournament with a knee injury, Guerrero has another chance to write his name in the Copa America history books this summer. With 14 goals scored across five Copa America tournaments, Guerrero is three goals from equalling the individual goalscoring record, which has been jointly held by Argentina’s Noberto Mendez and Brazil’s Zizinho since 1957.
If Peru are to replicate their journey to the final from four years ago, Guerrero’s goals are likely to be a big reason.
Elias Burke
Piero Quispe
There is one story about Piero Quispe that illustrates the midfielder’s fearlessness.
Born in the Peruvian capital of Lima, as a youngster, he joined Centro Deportivo Hector Chumpitaz — an academy named after the former national team centre-back and aimed at players from poor backgrounds. Quispe was already considered a big talent, but he took his reputation to new heights in a game against an army team in 2016.
“The soldiers were big, strong, tall — and they couldn’t get hold of Piero Quispe,” Tito Chumpitaz, Hector’s son who runs the academy, tells The Athletic. “Piero was thinner and smaller than he is now, but at 15 he got the ball and took on everybody.”
The club’s directors wanted Quispe to join Peru’s military academy, but Tito said no. He went on to sign for one of the country’s biggest teams in Universitario a year later, where he would wake up at 4am and take three buses to get to training. When he signed a contract with them at 17, he moved in full-time, spending months away from his family after the pandemic hit in 2020.
A boyhood Universitario fan, Quispe was a key part of the team that delivered a record 27th league title last year — their first for 10 years. That was overseen by the veteran Uruguayan manager Jorge Fossati, now coach of Peru. When Quispe moved to Mexico’s Pumas UNAM in January, he chose 27 as his shirt number to commemorate the title win.
Looking at his smarterscout profile — which gives players a series of ratings from zero and 99 — from his time at Universitario, you can see how keen he is to run with the ball at his feet (’carry and dribble volume’, 95 out of 99). Such an aggressive approach in possession is matched by a strong presence without the ball, often looking to get tight to his man to nick it back and go on another mazy run (’defensive intensity’, 75 out of 99).
Things have not worked out entirely as planned for the diminutive 22-year-old since then. He went 20 games before scoring his first goal in April and has struggled with the intensity of Liga MX. When he left Lima for Mexico City, Quispe was filmed saying a tearful goodbye to his dog.
“It’s hard to leave your pet, but I knew it could happen,” Quispe told Peruvian outlet Depor. “That’s the life of a footballer, who doesn’t just leave their pet — I’ve also left my family and my friends who were always there.”
But Quispe is slowly getting to grips with life in Mexico and will be one of Peru’s great hopes in the United States this summer. Tito says he took a trip to Italy before making that move and thinks he could “easily” play in Serie A.
“He’s working to move to European football — that’s clear,” Tito says of his former academy graduate. “He has a bulletproof mentality.”
Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero
Pedro Gallese
Sometimes, it’s worth admitting our faults as a collective society: we have, by and large, grown lazy about giving our best athletes nicknames. Blame the NBA’s stars or Cristiano Ronaldo for the ‘first initial-last initial-number’ custom that’s now our default standby, but the AB1 approach does little to inspire or titillate.
Bless our stars for Peru, then, who have bestowed their national goalkeeper with the delightful ’El Pulpo’ — the octopus. Octopi famously have three hearts. If Gallese embodied the mollusk to a concerningly literal extent, he would almost certainly devote all three hearts to his national team.
For years, Gallese has been flailing his limbs in any and seemingly every direction to backstop Peru’s resurgence in CONMEBOL. Gallese has been a constant during this strong generation, keeping goal for Peru at the 2018 World Cup and leading them to a runner-up finish at the 2019 Copa America and a fourth-place showing in 2021. At the age of 34, however, that seemingly sprawling presence in goal is starting to show signs that his power is fading.
Statistically, his shot-stopping has not been this bad for years, as can be seen from the graphic below comparing how many goals he is conceding against the quality of shots he is facing.
Since leaving Veracruz for MLS before the 2020 season, Gallese has reached unimpeachable starter status for club and country.
He has been at the heart of Orlando City’s best moments (the non-Kaka categories, at least) as a franchise, including a second-place finish in the regular season last year and a playoff run that ended against the Columbus Crew. No shame in losing to an eventual champion, of course, but the first trimester of 2024 has seen a less effective version of Gallese: one who’s a bit slow to drop to stop a low shot, one who isn’t executing sweeper actions as swiftly as in years gone by.
Still, there’s nothing like a major international tournament to bring the best out of a veteran goalkeeper. The ability to hold one’s nerve in the big moment is impossible to encapsulate in data, and that’s likely the bet that Peru will have to win to thrive in Group A alongside Argentina, Canada and Chile.
Gallese is Peru’s sixth-most-capped player, 23 games behind record-holders Roberto Palacios and Yoshimar Yotun. In all likelihood, his status as a legend of the program was cemented when Peru returned to a World Cup for the first time in 36 years. He may be relied upon early and often, but the schedule-makers may have done Peru a favor by leaving Argentina until last.
They’ll go into that game with a decent idea of whether they are through or not. Should they walk out from those two matches against Canada and Chile in a good position, they’ll undoubtedly have Gallese to thank.
Jeff Rueter
Kendry Paez
Vroooom! Vroooooooom!
Do not adjust your headsets. That is just the sound of Kendry Paez’s career, revving up for another joyride. Don’t bother with the brakes — they don’t work and probably never did.
Paez, for the uninitiated, is one of the best attacking midfielders in South America, a mainstay for his club and for his national team. He will join Chelsea next year and is a bona fide superstar in Ecuador: the only people who don’t expect him to become the best footballer the country has ever produced are those who think he already is.
He is also just 17 years old. Hello accelerator pedal, my old friend.
As a kid — well, an even younger kid — Paez picked up a nickname from team-mates at his neighbourhood club. ’Di Maria’, they called him, and it’s not hard to see why. Like Argentina winger Angel Di Maria, Paez is a wriggly, insistent dribbler who can dance away from challenges. He likes to drift in from the right side. He has a powerful shot but is also subtle and smart, capable of sliding passes between the lines for team-mates.
He is also remarkably confident, an attribute that helped convince coaches at Independiente del Valle to move him up through the age categories ahead of time: Paez was playing under-18 football at 14 and joined the first-team squad before his 16th birthday.
When Ecuador manager Felix Sanchez called him up in June 2023, just three months after his senior debut, it did not seem like a gimmick. A year later, Paez is one of the first names on the team sheet — even if he is comfortably the youngest (look at the gap between him and his team-mates in the graphic).
If there is a challenge for Paez, it is maintaining the momentum until next summer, when he will finally be old enough to move to the Premier League. Already, the Ecuadorian league looks a little straightforward for him, to the extent that a few doubts have crept in over his focus. A trip to a New York strip club with senior Ecuador players in March understandably rang a few alarm bells.
Paez’s talent, however, is not up for debate. Nor is the scale of the excitement about him. ”He’s on another level,” said former Ecuador striker Carlos Tenorio last year. ”He has everything it takes to be better than Lionel Messi. These players are not born every day.”
Jack Lang
Moises Caicedo
It was a whirlwind two and a half years for Moises Caicedo.
Signed by Brighton & Hove Albion from Independiente in February 2021, he was loaned to struggling Beerschot in Belgium, then returned in January 2022 and shone in the run-in. To the shock of many, he slotted in seamlessly alongside Alexis Mac Allister. No need to adapt to a new, faster, better league, different country or different play style.
Caicedo, a real all-rounder, excels defensively. He is an excellent ball winner in duels and interceptions, with a trademark recovery slide tackle when sprinting towards his own goal. He was the only Premier League player to rack up 100-plus tackles and 50-plus interceptions in the 2022-23 season.
Graham Potter joked in August 2022 that Liverpool’s reported £42million ($53m) bid for Caicedo would “probably get his boots”, but it foreshadowed what was to come. When Potter joined Chelsea in September 2022, his successor, Roberto De Zerbi, built his 4-2-3-1 around Caicedo and Mac Allister. They were particularly key in build-up, required to receive passes under pressure, deep in their own third and execute patterns to get out.
Then Chelsea bought him for a British-record transfer fee (£115million) last summer. That price tag came with immeasurable pressure, and arguably unrealistic expectations, especially for a central midfielder who can be harder to measure. Under the recently departed Mauricio Pochettino, Caicedo was a key player, with only Conor Gallagher playing more Premier League minutes for Chelsea last season.
That defensive awareness did not diminish. As shown by the locations of his tackles and interceptions below, Caicedo ate up a lot of ground to ensure that his opponent rarely broke through in attack, as he looked to protect his defence behind him.
Caicedo did not have as good a season as the one before, and while non-linear development is typical for players, especially with Chelsea’s young and overhauled squad, he faced heavy criticism early in the season. Pochettino spoke about a “delayed adaptation” for Caicedo, who did not have a pre-season and cross-continental travel for international games took its toll.
At his worst, Caicedo was sloppy in possession. He had more decision-making responsibility in the build-up than at Brighton and opponents targeted him with their press. He could be late and rash in tackles. Only five players had more than his 11 Premier League yellow cards last season.
But there is a reason Gustavo Alfaro gave him his international debut before his 19th birthday; why Caicedo, 22, already has 41 international caps and started all three 2022 World Cup games; why Felix Sanchez (who replaced Alfaro) used Caicedo in 13 of his 14 games as Ecuador head coach. Sanchez explained why to FIFA in November: “He has everything you want in a midfielder. He can press, he can make the team play, he can break into the last third.”
Liam Tharme
Willian Pacho
It still feels early to speculate on how good Willian Pacho can become but the initial signs for the 22-year-old defender are very positive.
Pacho has all the tools to be a tough tackling defender at an even higher level. He carries the ball well and is skilful in possession. His passing needs improvement but his eagerness cannot be faulted. He loves to tackle and does so with physicality and whole-heartedness that makes him entertaining to watch.
Like the majority of defenders, errors in his game are not uncommon but he is still young enough to smooth them out. His inexperience speaks for itself given he has only played two full seasons in Europe. In his first, he won the Belgian Pro League and Belgian Cup with Royal Antwerp. And in his second he joined Eintracht Frankfurt during what was a transitional season. They finished in sixth place but were up and down in form at times under new coach Dino Toppmoller.
Pacho was ever-present throughout the campaign, playing 97 per cent of Frankfurt’s available league minutes — the second-highest among all Bundesliga outfield players last season.
Left-footed centre-backs are valued commodities and Pacho could make himself a point of interest for many European scouts this summer.
He was selected for the World Cup in Qatar but did not play a single minute. He has now risen in status within the team and should be partnering Piero Hincapie on the left of defence for Ecuador. The pair came through at Independiente together (where they won the under-20s Copa Libertadores in 2020) and are now cutting it up in the Bundesliga as well as internationally.
His first game for Ecuador was in March 2023, the same month he signed a five-year deal with Frankfurt. It was against Australia and Pacho scored the winning goal in the 2-1 friendly victory. A moment to savour, he will be hoping his first major tournament begins with a similar bang.
Caoimhe O’Neill
Piero Hincapie
”Is this title-winning form from Bayer Leverkusen?” an English-speaking commentator asked after the Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie wrestled his way towards the RB Leipzig goal to score a stoppage-time winner in late January.
Hincapie’s heroism, which clinched a 3-2 win, added to an unforgettable campaign as Leverkusen went unbeaten in the Bundesliga and won the DFB-Pokal.
Despite missing pre-season through injury, the 22-year-old played a key part as a centre-back in Xabi Alonso’s ruthless team. Hincapie is versatile, which came in handy for Alonso, who employed him at left-back (five times) and in the left of midfield (also five times) to fly forward.
As shown below, that versatility helps him be comfortable in possession, regularly driving forward and carrying the ball out from defence with confidence — trusting his ability to progress the play during Leverkusen’s build-up phase.
Five years earlier, he was breaking through into Ecuador’s top league with Independiente del Valle.
Miguel Angel Ramirez, head of Independiente’s academy when Hincapie was there, told The Athletic last year that what stood out most was the defender’s physicality.
“Piero is extremely quick, technically sound and tactically intelligent,” he added. ”It’s no surprise that he’s one of the most valuable centre-backs on the market. He is cut out to play for one of the biggest clubs.”
After a trailblazing and tenacious season with Leverkusen, Hincapie will now represent Ecuador at Copa as an even more renowned name not just in his home country but elsewhere. He has already made 32 appearances for the national team and could play as a left-wing back in the States.
Hincapie will have to be on his best behaviour, though, as he has been known for some rash tackling in the past. He received nine yellow cards and three reds in the 2022-23 Bundesliga — but he has cleaned up his act and matured a lot. Last season, he only picked up three yellow cards and no reds in 43 games for Leverkusen.
The under-20s Copa Libertadores winner with Independiente showed last season how his pedigree continues to build.
Caoimhe O’Neill
Demarai Gray
As superstar after superstar swapped Europe’s biggest clubs for the riches of Saudi Arabia last summer, Demarai Gray’s transfer from Everton to Al Ettifaq was comparatively unheralded.
When he broke through at Birmingham City’s academy to make his senior debut as a 17-year-old in 2013, Gray was tipped for stardom. In two and a half seasons at St Andrew’s, all as a teenager, Gray made 78 appearances, including 51 starts in the Championship, scoring eight goals.
His shifty dribbling style, pace and long-range shooting ability attracted the attention of several Premier League clubs as well as England’s youth teams, where he was a fixture through the age groups from the under-18 to under-21s.
In 2015, Leicester City signed Gray to a four-and-a-half-year contract and he ended his first Premier League season as a title-winner. Hopes were high that he would become one of the nation’s best and most exciting young wingers. But, despite flashes of his game-changing ability across spells at Leicester and Everton, and a six-month loan to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, Gray failed to live up to his sparkling potential.
Now, away from the European spotlight in Saudi Arabia, the 27-year-old arrives at Copa America with Jamaica’s attacking hopes on his shoulders.
Without Leon Bailey, Gray is undoubtedly the star of Jamaica’s wide attack. He’s endured an indifferent season under Steven Gerrard in the Saudi Pro League, registering four goals and three assists as Al Ettifaq finished sixth in an 18-team league. Curiously, his previously clean disciplinary record was significantly blighted this season, as he picked up three red cards, two for his club and another in Jamaica’s 3-2 win over Canada last November.
Still, he will be expected to fulfil Bailey’s role on the wing after the Aston Villa star ruled himself out of contention despite being named in Heimir Hallgrimsson’s squad. And while Bailey is starring in the Premier League, Gray has been Jamaica’s go-to man in attack since declaring for the Reggae Boyz in 2023.
He debuted in style at last summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, delivering an assist in his first game in Jamaica colours, followed by a brace in a 4-1 win over Trinidad & Tobago. While Mexico eliminated Jamaica in the semi-final, his group-stage performances and assist in a 1-0 victory over Guatemala in the quarter-finals were enough to see the Birmingham-born winger named in the tournament’s best XI.
Given the star names involved this summer, Gray isn’t expected to steal the headlines at Copa America. But if Jamaica are to fulfil their hopes of reaching the knockout stages, they may rely on his goals and flair to get them there.
Elias Burke
Santiago Gimenez
Santiago Gimenez ticks many of the boxes Premier League clubs look for when recruiting a central striker.
First, Gimenez has the perfect blend of age and experience. At 23 years old, he is still at the beginning of his professional career, an attractive trait for many clubs who prefer to mould and develop younger and more impressionable players within their style and system.
That said, he has over 150 league appearances under his belt across spells with Cruz Azul in his native Mexico and Feyenoord in the Dutch Eredivisie, where he leads the line now. With Gimenez, clubs are getting the best of both worlds from that perspective.
Not only is he experienced, but he has an outstanding goalscoring record for such a young player. Since making his professional debut in the 2019-20 Liga MX season, Gimenez has scored 72 goals in all competitions. The left-footed striker, who was born in Argentina but chose to represent Mexico after moving there as a child, had a stellar season in front of goal in 2023-24, finding the back of the net 26 times across 41 appearances in all competitions. He can score in a variety of ways, too. He is strong in the air, can strike the ball well from distance and is crafty and cute with both feet from inside the box.
While once-prolific strikers like Afonso Alves and Vincent Janssen prove that goals scored in the Eredivisie do not always translate to the Premier League, Gimenez’s record is undoubtedly impressive.
Even when Gimenez does not score, he often positively influences a game. He is a threat at offensive set-pieces, a presence when defending corners and, under the now Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, he led the line with intensity at Feyenoord.
Gimenez is not blessed with track-sprinting pace, but he can run the channels effectively, offering out-ball avenues when his defence is under pressure. If he wins possession, he is also quite handy with the ball and can hold it up well under pressure and combine with his team-mates. His impressive technical skills likely came from his father, Christian Gimenez, an attacking midfielder who won five caps for Mexico in 2013 after a long career in Argentina and Liga MX.
He has been linked to clubs around Europe, including Tottenham Hotspur, and could follow his former boss to the Premier League if he has a good Copa America, where he is expected to lead the line for Mexico in the absence of Raul Jimenez. With so many appealing attributes, however, Spurs will likely face stiff competition for his signature.
Elias Burke
Cesar Huerta
If you hear the Mexican crowd calling for “El Chino” this summer, it won’t be because of a khaki trouser craze sweeping the nation. El Chino, AKA Cesar Huerta, is one of the exciting youngsters that head coach Jaime Lozano is pinning his hopes on to bring fresh energy to Mexico at Copa America.
Huerta does not just stand out because of a fun nickname: he is eye-catching in every sense. He is just 5ft 6in (167cm), and it is not clear whether his incredible curly brown afro hairstyle has been accounted for in that measurement. When he dribbles down his favoured left wing at pace, his curly locks sway in all directions as he weaves in and out of defenders.
Whether it’s a result of his trickery or the strong smell of hair product that bamboozles his opposition, watching him take on his man in wide positions is edge-of-your-seat stuff. As shown by the graphic below, it is clear that he enjoys performing those actions… a lot.
However, his path to the national team and to competing near the top of Liga MX with Pumas UNAM has not been linear. Huerta joined his hometown club Chivas Guadalajara as an academy player in 2015 and made his first-team debut three years later.
After being sent out on loan on four occasions, the 23-year-old handed in a transfer request in 2022 as he could not break into the starting line-up and was transferred to Pumas. Since then, he has been a first-team fixture for the Mexican side on the left wing, and this year, he is having his best season yet as a professional.
With a strong pool of wide attackers to choose from, Huerta may not start every game for Mexico this summer, but he has the technical and intangible qualities to make a difference whenever he’s called upon. While his talent is undeniable, his insistence and stubbornness to refuse to lose in one-v-one situations are immediately recognisable as elite attributes in his favour. His slight frame can cause him to get knocked off balance occasionally, but he has the drive to continue going.
He has spoken of his desire to play in Europe, and becoming physically stronger is one of a few areas where he may have to develop. Another of those is becoming more decisive in the final third, though his 11 goals this season prove he is making headway in this area, as well as ensuring he is always dribbling for a purpose. Sometimes, it appears he gets so caught up in beating opposition players that he ends up near the byline with no space to cross or pass.
But at 23, he has plenty of time to learn. One thing is for sure: you will enjoy watching him in a Mexico shirt this summer.
Elias Burke
Erick Sanchez
Erick Sanchez is having the best season of his career and will look to continue that when Mexico take on Ecuador, Venezuela and Jamaica in Group B.
The 24-year-old scored nine goals in all competitions for Pachuca this season, his most in a single season, and can play as attacking midfielder or central midfielder.
The 5ft 6in attacking midfielder, who can also play as a central midfielder, goes by the nickname Chiquito (or tiny) and made his professional debut as a 16-year-old in 2016. A Pachuca academy product, he spent two seasons on loan with Zacatecas between 2018 and 2020 in the second tier before cementing a starting role in the Pacheca first team. Now a Liga MX regular, he was rewarded with a call-up for the national team in 2021 after previously playing for Mexico’s under-23s side.
As shown by his smarterscout profile — which gives players series of ratings from zero and 99 — it is clear how much Sanchez looks to move the ball forward (progressive passing, 82 out of 99) and contribute to his side’s attack (xG from shot creation, 88 out of 99).
His three goals in a Mexico shirt came in a Nations League game against Suriname in 2022, against Germany in a 2023 friendly and in a Gold Cup win over Costa Rica in the same year. He played in every game for Jaime Lozano as Mexico lifted the Gold Cup trophy for a record ninth time.
The Gold Cup win marked Sanchez’s third trophy of his professional career, after Pachuca won the Liga MX Apertura title in 2022 and the CONCACAF Champions Cup (previously the Champions League) in 2016-17. The playmaker has become one of Liga MX’s best Mexican players and is said to be of interest to giants Club America who won this season’s title. If Pachuca sell their star player they are expected to have a high asking price with the player contracted to the club until December 2025.
Pachuca ended Club America’s CONCACAF Champions Cup campaign this season with a 3-2 aggregate win in the semi-final and they were comfortable winners in the final against Columbus Crew on June 2. Sanchez started the match, which Pachuca won thanks to two goals from Salomon Rondon. On the way to the final, Sanchez grabbed two assists in a 6-0 rout of Philadelphia Union in the group stages.
Sanchez has not looked back since he was left out of Mexico’s Qatar 2022 World Cup squad, and after lifting the Champions Cup will be determined to make an impact with Mexico this summer.
Nancy Froston
Marcelo Flores
Three years ago there was plenty of chat — and hype — about Marcelo Flores.
Two years after leaving the Ipswich Town academy he was on the brink of a first-team breakthrough with Arsenal.
And at national level the attacking midfielder was being courted by England, Canada and Mexico. He felt like the the kind of rising star that could lift the mood of a fanbase, no matter how the team were performing.
But since debuting for Mexico in May 2022, Flores has fallen off the radar a little. He left Arsenal last September, joining the Mexican side Tigres on a permanent deal.
After plenty of buzz, and then things going rather quiet, it’s easy to forget that Flores is still only 20. He has prioritised a stable club setting rather than some speculative loans, and will hope that decision pays off in the long term.
Tigres have eased him into their first team, starting him in only seven of his first 21 Liga MX appearances. The patient approach worked wonders down the stretch, highlighted by his superb performance against Necaxa when he scored a hat-trick and provided an assist. All three finishes were dispatched by his dependable right foot — a bit like a mirror image of Carlos Vela in his heyday.
As shown below, his attacking metrics look impressive. A high shot volume matched with a high rate of (non-penalty) goalscoring are metrics that any forward would be pleased with.
A surprisingly youthful Mexico roster will require some less-tested members of the pool to step up; so why not Flores? Born in Ontario, he is one of the brighter hopes in what some fear could be a low-impact generation of talent for El Tri.
There’s every reason to think that Europe hasn’t seen the last of Flores, given his age and his ability when he’s on it. The question — as is always the case with a player as young as him — is how many of those days he’ll enjoy in this Copa America.
Jeff Rueter
Salomon Rondon
Almost everywhere Salomon Rondon has been in his 18-year professional career, goals and cult status have followed.
After beginning it in his native Venezuela, Rondon moved to Spain. He established himself as a reliable source of goals in La Liga, particularly during his spell at Malaga under Manuel Pellegrini. Across two league seasons, he scored 25 goals and helped the club to a fourth place finish and Champions League qualification.
After three years in Russia between 2012 and 2015, Rondon moved to West Bromwich Albion, where he made 108 Premier League appearances. He became only the second player in Premier League history after Duncan Ferguson to score a hat-trick of headers in a 4-0 win over Swansea in November 2016, a moment that is still recalled fondly by The Hawthorns faithful.
After a good season at Newcastle United following West Brom’s relegation to the Championship and brief periods in China, Russia, Merseyside and Argentina in the intervening period, Rondon is enjoying a late-career renaissance in Mexico with Pachuca this season.
In 27 appearances, Rondon has netted an impressive 17 times. Nine of those goals have come in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, where he scored hat-tricks in successive games against the Philadelphia Union and Costa Rican side Herediano at the round of 16 and quarter-final stages. The other two came in the final earlier this month against Columbus Crew. He was top scorer and named best player in the tournament.
As shown by his smarterscout profile — which gives players series of ratings from zero and 99 — you can see that those striker instincts have not relented, as he regularly makes himself available to receive (receptions in the opposition box, 88 out of 99) and gets on the end of his side’s attack (shot volume, 94 out of 99).
Despite now being 34, the forward has shown a willingness to adapt his game to suit his new surroundings. Over a long career in Europe, Rondon developed a reputation as a target central striker who used his aerial ability to score from wide deliveries, but he has rotated wide more frequently with Oussama Idrissi, Pachuca’s starting left-winger, than he typically did in England.
While he is expected to lead the line for Venezuela at Copa America this summer, Fernando Bautista has recently alternated towards a wing-back system, which may require Rondon to become more of a presence in wide areas.
Even if he is shunted out wide, Rondon will do it with his customary toothy grin. For West Brom and Newcastle fans, watching their former No 9 do what he does best is enough reason to tune into Copa America.
Elias Burke
Yeferson Soteldo
There are diminutive forwards and then there is Yeferson Soteldo, a man who could comfortably fit into a match box. With his shock of bleached locks and tattoos, he looks more like a manga character than an actual footballer. Pleasingly, he also plays with a kind of cartoon abandon, all playground giggles and gambits.
But back to his size for a second. The Venezuelan is 159cm short and reportedly weighs 62kg, which seems generous. He is so dinky that even his team-mates can’t resist gags at his expense. When he played for Santos in Brazil, he once walked into the canteen to find that his usual seat had disappeared. In its place was a baby’s high chair.
There is, therefore, a certain novelty value in watching Soteldo take the field. Stand him next to a hulking centre-back and your instinct is to call social services immediately. But the physique shapes the footballer and Soteldo’s skillset is both an expression of and a way of compensating for his stature.
For one thing, Soteldo is as slippery as an eel. Because his centre of gravity is so low — subterranean, practically — he can change direction in a flash, making him incredibly hard to tackle. He can wriggle through gaps that aren’t there and has quick feet, as well as a lovely range of flicks.
Most often, he plays on the left. He likes to run at his full-back, twist him inside-out. He has a decent shot on him but is arguably better as a provider, digging out crosses after reaching the touchline. Salomon Rondon, Venezuela’s towering striker, is frequently the beneficiary.
Plotting those attempted take-ons with driving caries into the penalty area highlight just how much of a livewire Soteldo is compared with his peers in Brazil.
Sotelo’s club career, in truth, has been patchy since he left Venezuela in 2019. He was brilliant for Santos as they finished second in the Brazilian top flight that year, but a move to Toronto FC did not pan out as hoped and he has yet to fully settle down since, even after returning to Santos last year. He is currently on loan at Gremio, trying to recapture some of the old magic.
For Venezuela fans, the hope will be that Soteldo gets back in the groove this summer. Neutrals, too, should be crossing their fingers. On his day, DJ Yazzy Yef is an absolute blast to watch.
Jack Lang
Yangel Herrera
Everything’s coming up City Football Group these days, isn’t it?
Manchester City just won its fourth Premier League title in a row. New York City FC arguably executed an even more difficult feat, finding land in Queens to build a soccer stadium. The 2023-24 season was also a banner year for the conglomerate’s Spanish branch, as Girona finished third in La Liga to earn Champions League football for the first time in the club’s 93-year history. Those plucky underdogs at CFG did it again!
In reality, Girona’s rise was the culmination of years of meticulous squad building to transform a once-pennywise investment into a threat in Europe. At the literal heart of their on-field excellence this year was Yangel Herrera, a defensive midfielder who is himself an embodiment of the CFG model.
On January 31, 2017, Manchester City nominally snapped up the then-19-year-old from Atletico Venezuela. Not for them, mind you, but for their corporate relatives at New York City FC. Across two years, Herrera refined his defensive midfield chops in MLS before his development was extended with four loans in Spain: first with Huesca, then Granada, then Espanyol, and finally — with it now clear he wouldn’t be a fit for Pep Guardiola’s side — Girona, first as a loanee in 2022-23.
It ended up being the perfect part of CFG’s international corporate tree for the Venezuelan, who especially enjoyed that newfound stability for an exceptional 2023-24 campaign.
Across 2,069 La Liga minutes, Herrera was among the league’s most proactive tacklers while capably stifling more dribbling opponents than most positional peers. Granted, the commitment to converging can result in some clattering challenges — only three midfielders were shown more yellow cards in La Liga than his 47 cautions. Still, it’s a result-driven business, and Girona certainly benefited from his approach.
All the while honing his attacking game to become one of the best box-crashing midfielders in Spain’s top division.
Now it’s Venezuela’s turn to yield Herrera’s do-everything energy and turn it into a surprise all their own. As is true with his club, he has plenty of capable team-mates that will benefit from his willingness to do often-thankless tasks. It’s an undoubted boost that he’s able to chip in with scoring goals and not just preventing them. He scored five last season, three of which proved to be game-winners — only topped in Spain by some guy named Jude Bellingham.
Will Venezuela be able to advance from a group it shares with Mexico, Jamaica and Ecuador? Only time will tell. After years spent as a frequently relocated member of CFG, however, Herrera is finally in a stable setting and has rewarded his club with the best form of his career. This summer, he’ll have a chance to carry it into the international arena in a wide-open Group B.
Jeff Rueter
Miguel Terceros
Miguel Terceros, known as Miguelito in South America, is the kind of player who can turn nothing into something — a unique quality Bolivia head coach Antonio Carlos Zago may call upon for a spark this summer.
Terceros, 20, moved to Brazilian side Santos in 2018 and broke into the first team in 2022, aged 18, but has struggled to become a consistent starter. After suffering relegation to Brazil’s second division, he has primarily featured for Santos’ Under-20 side. But with eight goals in 12 matches, it’s unlikely he’ll be kept away from the first team for long.
Terceros is an attacker who is comfortable across the front line. He most frequently plays as a No 10 or in wide positions for Santos’ youth sides, but he can play as a false nine and has even deputised as a wing-back under Zago for Bolivia. With 11 caps, most of which have come from the bench, he is still finding his feet on the international stage, but he possesses the quality to deliver magic in short cameos.
While he primarily dribbles with his left foot, his ability to strike the ball with power and precision from varying distances keeps defenders guessing whether he will dribble down the line or cut inside. He also plays with impressive composure, and while his final ball isn’t yet elite, the ball-striking ability he demonstrates when shooting suggests he can become a more effective passer and crosser in the final third.
While his technical ability is undoubtedly eye-catching, his doggedness and bravery in and out of possession set him apart from many talented wingers his age. In his full international debut against Senegal, Terceros might have been discouraged by a 2-0 deficit and waited for his more senior team-mates to push the team up the pitch. Instead, he ran at the Senegal defence whenever he had the ball, using skill and fight to inch his team up the pitch.
While taking risks in possession is not always considered the sensible decision (he lost the ball on one occasion in his own half), his bravery in taking the ball and making something happen could inspire Zago to lean more heavily on Terceros for attacking inspiration this summer.
With his club career yet to take off, an impressive performance in the continent’s premier international competition could motivate Santos head coach Fabio Carille to give Terceros more opportunities in Brazil.
Elias Burke
Adalberto Carrasquilla
These days, some broadcast angles can make it difficult to track how a team is trying to play beyond the limiting close-up. When showing a game involving Adalberto ’Coco’ Carrasquilla, the trickier task is framing a shot where the midfielder won’t be in sight.
Like the best under-8 players, Carrasquilla is eager to involve himself no matter where the ball is. With MLS club Houston Dynamo, the 25-year-old covers ample real estate alongside Hector Herrera when his side are out of possession, and runs into open space when they have the ball. Looking at his open-play progressive pass clusters below, you can see how diverse his ability is in moving the ball closer to goal.
With Los Canaleros, he’s an even more vital cog — a tenacious athlete with Carlos Valderrama’s hair and Arturo Vidal’s work rate when the lights are brightest.
Last summer, he finally had a platform to be the leading man rather than a supporting player. Panama reached the Gold Cup final for the first time in a decade, with Carrasquilla winning the tournament’s Golden Ball despite not scoring in regulation play of any match. Instead, his highlight was the decisive penalty in a semifinal shootout against the United States — a marquee moment that masked hours of thankless work between the boxes throughout the tournament.
As the field shifts from CONCACAF to CONMEBOL, there will be understandable questions about what to expect from North and Central American teams like Panama. While Canada and Costa Rica have stagnated since the 2022 World Cup and Jamaica is a difficult squad to project with so many rotating players and federational unrest, Panama is on the ascendency. Their head coach Thomas Christiansen has restored hopes that the nation could appear at their second World Cup in 2026.
With rising ambitions for the program, Panama’s performance at this Copa America is worth tracking closely as a checkpoint ahead of World Cup qualifying. Should you tune in to one of their matches in Group C, it’s almost certain that you’ll see plenty of industry from Carrasquilla.
Jeff Rueter
Darwin Nunez
As coach-player combinations go, it’s a one-in-a-million ticket. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Marcelo Bielsa walked into the one where Darwin Nunez was drinking. And singing karaoke. And tap-dancing on the bar. Naked. Chaos master, meet chaos agent. You can almost smell the gunpowder from here.
It feels like a crucial relationship, not just for this new-look Uruguay side, but for Nunez’s career. He has had his moments since moving to Liverpool two years ago, but they have been diluted by so many misses and mistakes that the whole enterprise often seems quite… random. Here comes the big man now; roll those dice and let’s see what he comes up with.
In truth, this feeling is entirely of a piece with Nunez’s story. He was not, like so many players on this list, an undisputed prodigy, a sure thing in short pants. His progress through the youth system at Penarol was disrupted by a serious knee injury. He made it to the first team but only scored in two of his 22 appearances. When he moved to Europe, it was to join Almeria in Spain’s second division.
His big chance came a year later, when Benfica took a punt on him. After one middling season, he exploded, scoring 34 goals in all competitions. That return, plus two action-packed displays against Liverpool in the Champions League, earned him a move to the Premier League.
The fee — €75 million, rising to a possible €100 million — conferred expectations that Nunez has not always been able to meet. His finishing can be wonky, as can his decision-making. Most people agree that there is an elite player in there somewhere, but consistency has been a problem.
That’s shown by looking at a rolling view of Nunez’s non-penalty goals versus his expected goals over time. As you can see by a lot of the red shaded area since moving to Liverpool in 2022-23, the quality of Nunez’s chances suggest he should have scored more during his time at Anfield.
In Nunez’s defence, he is still only 24. There is time. You could never criticise him for skimping on effort, nor deny his status as one of the most watchable players out there. When he’s good, he’s really good; when he’s bad, he’s absolutely fascinating.
At which point enter Bielsa, surely the ideal line manager for Project Nunez. The Argentinian has ditched Uruguay’s heritage strike force (Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani) and placed his faith in the man he sees as the future. Nunez has responded to the tune of five goals in six competitive matches. More importantly, he sets the tone for Uruguay’s entire approach, exuding wild-horse energy wherever he roams.
Will it be enough to drag the Celeste into Copa America contention? That’s an open question, but you can be sure it will be a fun ride with Nunez on board.
Jack Lang
Federico Valverde
Known earlier in his career as ‘El Pajarito’ (little bird or fledgeling), due to his long, skinny limbs and shy, serious nature, Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde’s physical and tactical development through recent seasons has brought a change of nickname to ‘El Halcon’ (falcon).
Born in Montevideo in July 1998, Valverde joined the youth system of the city’s big club Penarol at the age of eight, and was quickly seen as a future star. At 16, he had a trial at Arsenal, but Madrid moved decisively after Valverde starred at the 2015 South American Under-17 Championship, where he scored seven goals.
After a season with Madrid’s Castilla development team, Valverde got La Liga experience during 2017-18 on loan at Deportivo La Coruna. Back at the Bernabeu, the ‘magic triangle’ of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric made it difficult to start every week in midfield, but he showed intelligence and determination to win a regular starting spot, wherever that may be on the pitch (graphic below).
During the 2021-22 season, Valverde was often a ‘false right-winger’ for Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, providing balance off the ball. He also assisted Vinicius Junior’s winning goal in the 2022 Champions League final.
In the summer of 2022, Ancelotti made a bet with Valverde that he’d retire if the player did not score 10 goals that season. It paid off for both as the Uruguayan reached that mark by early February, with a double in the final as Madrid won the Club World Cup.
Last season, Valverde adapted to a deeper role with more defensive responsibility, with Jude Bellingham breaking forward as Madrid’s midfield goalscorer. Valverde still hammered in a key goal in the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City, and provided two goals and seven assists in 37 La Liga games as Madrid eased to the title.
Off the pitch, Valverde likes to watch UFC bouts and helps out with the Red Cross in Madrid, along with his partner Mina Bonino, an Argentine journalist and influencer. Under contract at the Bernabeu until 2029, he has been linked with the Premier League, but a long-time ambition is to become Madrid’s club captain.
After making his senior Uruguay debut in 2017 aged 19, Valverde quickly established himself as a leader of a new generation including Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo and Tottenham Hotspur’s Rodrigo Bentancur.
This group did not do themselves justice at the 2022 World Cup but are revitalised under head coach Marcelo Bielsa, who has made ‘El Halcon’ the national captain. “This year we’re going to do something nice,” Valverde said recently, with a typical mix of understatement and determination.
Dermot Corrigan
Nicolas de la Cruz
It’s never wise to read too much into playful jokes between team-mates, but when Federico Valverde gave fellow Uruguay midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz a new nickname last year, it neatly captured what makes the latter so special.
De la Cruz had just helped the Celeste to a 2-0 win over Brazil, capping a dynamic, creative performance with his fifth international goal. As the Uruguayan press went wild, Valverde paid a winking tribute to his colleague. ”De la Cruyff,” he called him.
The comparison flatters De la Cruz, but not as much as you might imagine. While still a relative unknown on the global stage, he has been widely viewed as one of the best players in South America over the last three or four years. One of the most alluring, too.
De la Cruz broke through at Montevideo outfit Liverpool in 2015 and captained Uruguay Under-20s. He thrust himself onto a bigger stage at River Plate in Argentina, winning the 2018 Copa Libertadores and blossoming into a player of rare grace and poise.
The 27-year-old is comfortable playing anywhere in midfield (below) but performs best centrally, either behind a striker or slightly deeper. He is extremely two-footed and highly intelligent, always a split second or two ahead of the developing play. He takes a mean free kick, and while he probably doesn’t score as many goals as he should, he makes up for it with his probing, vertical passing.
Given his profile, it should come as little surprise that his childhood idols were two of the great South American playmakers: Ronaldinho and Juan Roman Riquelme. No surprise, either, that there were a few broken hearts when he left Argentina for Flamengo in Brazil at the end of 2023. ”I’m crazy about him,” sighed River idol Beto Alonso. ”I don’t want him to go.”
It remains a slight mystery why no European club has taken a gamble on De la Cruz — Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and Fiorentina are among those who have been linked in recent seasons — but he is already well on the way to becoming a Flamengo fan favourite. His importance to the Uruguay side, meanwhile, cannot be understated.
De la Cruz came fairly late to the national team, making his senior debut at 23, and has appeared keen to make up for lost time ever since. He put in a stellar, match-winning display against Chile in Marcelo Bielsa’s first game in the dugout and will be central to Uruguay’s hopes this summer.
Jack Lang
Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez doesn’t usually do major tournaments quietly.
In World Cups, there is the controversial handball against Ghana in 2010 and the bite of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in 2014. At the last World Cup, he played a part in both goals during Uruguay’s 2-0 group-stage victory over Ghana in what was dubbed the revenge match. Smiles turned to tears for Suarez though as, despite the victory, his team were eliminated.
His outings in the Copa America have been less controversial — although his miss in the 2019 quarter-final penalty shootout against Peru cost Uruguay their spot in the tournament. In 2011, he played an integral role in Uruguay lifting the title.
Suarez, who is Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer with 68 goals in 138 international caps, was six months into his spell at Liverpool then. He became a household name at Anfield for good and bad reasons. His 31-goal Premier League campaign took Liverpool close to glory in 2014, before he moved on to Barcelona and formed a lethal front three with Lionel Messi and Neymar. He won plenty in Spain, including four La Liga titles and the 2015 Champions League.
A move to Atletico Madrid, where he won another La Liga title, was followed by a return to his boyhood club Nacional. He scored twice in the game that sealed the Uruguayan Primera Division, 16 years after he won his first.
Born in Salto, he had joined originally Nacional aged 14 and made his senior debut aged 18. He is a born winner, and has yet to leave a club without lifting a trophy.
Nicknamed ‘El Pistolero’, the striker is now 37 but the goalscoring has not stopped. He never had blistering pace to lose, but the trickery, instinct and moments of magic remain. So too does the hunger and desire that got him to the elite level.
Suarez was absent from the Uruguay squad for a year after the 2022 World Cup but Marcelo Bielsa recalled him in November 2023 after his excellent form at Gremio, where he registered 28 goal contributions in 33 matches. His 11-month spell saw him become an instant hero, before he departed for Florida to link up with Messi at Inter Miami.
He may not be at his peak, but he’s still making everything look easy in MLS with 12 goals and five assists, which has propelled Inter Miami to the top of the Eastern Conference. As can be seen from his shot graphic below, he is a threat whenever the ball is in the penalty area.
A persistent knee issue raised questions about whether he would be included in Bielsa’s squad but he made the cut and it is impossible to ignore one of this generation’s greatest goalscorers.
Andy Jones
Antonee Robinson
Five years is a lifetime in soccer, but it really is remarkable to see how much Antonee Robinson’s career has grown in that time at both club level and with the USMNT.
When Gregg Berhalter first took over in 2019, Robinson struggled in his games with the USMNT and was on the fringe of the national team. Robinson was playing at Wigan Athletic in the Championship, England’s second division. After seeing a dream move to AC Milan scuppered due to an irregular heartbeat in early 2020, Robinson moved to Fulham and has grown into a high-level starter in the Premier League. With the U.S., Robinson has become one of the team’s most dependable performers and one of the first names on the team sheet.
The left-back is coming off the best season of his career. Robinson ranked among the top in tackles, blocks and clearances. His figure of 80 interceptions was the most in the Premier League, 15 clear of anyone else. He was also effective in ’progressive carries’ — only Nelson Semedo of Wolves (103) had more than Robinson’s 102 when it came to dribbling the ball more than 10 yards toward the opposition goal — and making ’progressive passes’ (a successful pass moving the ball at least 10 yards closer to the opponent’s goal) and had a career-high six assists.
His athleticism means that he will also be the one to often receive progressive passes in advanced areas — whether that is hugging the touchline or driving more towards the left half-space.
His play has attracted the attention of several of the Premier League’s top clubs, with Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea all being linked at different stages. Robinson signed a new deal at Fulham and was named The Athletic’s player of the season at the club.
“I want to keep on developing, I’m very settled here, I love the club,” Robinson told The Athletic. “It wasn’t a difficult decision to sign. Interest from other people is great. If someone wanted me enough to pay what Fulham would want, and if Fulham saw that as a good idea, then I’d leave. But until that happens, I’m just looking forward to the Copa and then starting next year with Fulham.”
The Copa will provide another big stage for Robinson to show how much he has grown as a player, and his value has only gone up, with right-back Sergino Dest ruled out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
It is likely that Robinson, 26, will be counted on to be more of an attacking presence now for the U.S. and as a leader for a team that has heavy expectations as they host both this Copa America and the World Cup in the space of two years.
Paul Tenorio
Tyler Adams
Remember Tyler Adams? USMNT fans do. They know him as their team’s captain, a vocal leader and defensive force who drove the team to a respectable showing at the 2022 World Cup.
Unfortunately, like a lot of his country’s best players, Adams’ club career has long been derailed by chronic injuries. This season, recovering from a hamstring surgery that sidelined him for seven months, Adams played just 118 minutes in the Premier League for Bournemouth. Two limited appearances for the national team in March are his only caps for the USMNT in the year and a half since the World Cup.
That long year on the physio’s table may finally be forgotten at the Copa America. USMNT assistant coach B.J. Callaghan recently reported that Adams is “looking fit” and “in great spirits” before the tournament, where his country hopes to finally have their captain back.
They’re going to need him. No other American defensive midfielder can offer Adams’ combination of crisp distribution in the build-up and tenacious defending out of possession. His decade of development in the Red Bull system, first in New York and later at Leipzig, brought out the best in a natural ball-hawk who says his “strength is in transition”.
Adams lines up at the base of USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter’s midfield in a 4-3-3, where his job is to relay the ball quickly from the centre-backs to the central midfielders, Weston McKennie and Gio Reyna, then stay in position to mop up after turnovers. His gift for anticipating plays and cutting out counter-attacks has been essential in reshaping the USMNT into a strong counter-pressing side.
It feels like a distant memory now, but those qualities made Adams a statistical standout for Leeds United in 2022, when he ranked as one of the Premier League’s best players at pressuring lost balls. Looking at his volume of tackles and interceptions during the 2022-23 season, you can see how often he would jump on opposition attacks and snuff out any danger on Leeds’ goal.
At the World Cup that year, the Adams-led USMNT trailed only England, Brazil, Spain and Germany for their successful counter-pressing rate, winning back nearly a quarter of their turnovers in the attacking 60 per cent of the pitch within eight seconds or less.
If there’s a knock on Adams’ all-around game, it’s a lack of line-breaking passes, but that shouldn’t be an issue with Reyna dropping alongside him and a pair of ball-playing centre-backs behind them. Adams’ role for the USMNT will be the same as it ever was, hounding opponents through the centre of the pitch to give his team-mates the confidence to try stuff.
John Muller
Christian Pulisic
It’s a good time to be Christian Pulisic.
After his four-year stint at Chelsea fizzled out on the bench, the biggest American name of his generation was in a tough spot. Since he moved to AC Milan last summer, however, he’s bounced back in a big way.
In his first season in Italy, Pulisic scored 15 goals and assisted 11 more, good enough to earn him a spot in some observers’ Serie A teams of the season.
“He has quality, intensity and willingness,” said Milan manager Stefan Pioli. “He’s scoring a lot, too, which isn’t always easy for a winger.”
He did it all in a role he hadn’t played in years. Pulisic grew up as a dribbling right-winger at Borussia Dortmund but once he hit his twenties, he lined up on the left, where he can cut inside onto his stronger right foot. At Milan, the left flank is Rafael Leao’s domain, so Pulisic has returned to the right, where he sticks closer to the sideline and puts in more crosses.
No matter which side he plays on, Pulisic’s greatest strength is the danger he creates with his off-ball runs, a skill that stood out even among Premier League stars. That’s how he scores all those goals from the wing. His coaches, including Gregg Berhalter with the USMNT and Frank Lampard at Chelsea, praise his knack for “arriving in the box”.
Pulisic’s record with the USMNT is hard to argue with — at 25, he’s already the country’s sixth-highest scorer of all time (29 goals), with more goals per 90 minutes than record-holders Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey — but he hasn’t always been consistent. He admits he sometimes tries to do too much on the ball instead of trusting his team-mates.
In Gregg Berhalter’s 4-3-3, Pulisic typically rotates inside from the left wing and drops deep to collect the ball, leaving him far from goal and surrounded by too many bodies to dribble through — a recipe for turnovers and frustration. He’s still great at arriving in the box, but it’s hard to make off-ball runs when you’re also your team’s main on-ball creator.
If he’s able to flash his Milan form at the Copa America, it’ll likely be thanks to the emergence of USMNT team-mate Gio Reyna, whose creativity in attacking midfield relieves Pulisic of playmaking duty and lets him focus on what he does best: scoring goals.
John Muller
Gio Reyna
Gio Reyna’s career has been curious.
The son of USMNT legend Claudio Reyna, a young Gio was hailed in his teens as one of the brightest American prospects to make the leap from an MLS academy to Europe. Early performances at Borussia Dortmund seemed to make good on that promise. At 17, in his first full pro season, Reyna made the Golden Boy shortlist — the award for the best young footballer in the world.
For the last few years, though, chronic injuries and tactical fit issues have largely kept him off the pitch (below). This winter’s loan move from Dortmund to Nottingham Forest didn’t help, as Reyna played just 230 Premier League minutes with his new club. When he takes the pitch at the Copa America, he’ll still be shaking off years of rust.
The good news for the USMNT is that a fully fit Reyna is still a superb talent on the ball, adding much-needed creativity to a side that can pass and press like a top team but has struggled to break down good defences. Head coach Gregg Berhalter preferred him on the wing, where his lack of pace and defensive workrate were valid concerns, but since moving to attacking midfield last year, Reyna has consistently been one of their best players.
That talent was sorely missed at the last World Cup, where Reyna barely featured due to fitness concerns and much-publicised attitude issues, but Berhalter says their relationship is “in a much better spot” now. If he can stay fit — always a big if — Reyna should be a key contributor at the Copa America.
Tactically, he’s a versatile midfielder who can drop deep in the build-up, when Berhalter often likes his midfielders to rotate underneath the full-backs to orchestrate play, and also work in tight spaces between the lines to find the final ball. That profile goes a long way to help balance the USMNT’s attack and take some pressure off star winger Christian Pulisic, who’s often at his best making off-ball runs and arriving in the box to score goals.
If their chemistry can solve the team’s attacking woes, the United States might just be a dark horse in a tournament packed with elite South American sides.
John Muller
Folarin Balogun
Folarin Balogun’s recruitment by the USMNT may have involved the most hype around a dual-national — or, in his case, tri-national — prospect … ever. And that’s saying something considering the amount of attention that goes into identifying, following and recruiting players with American citizenship.
When Balogun ended up in Orlando at the same time as the USMNT camp under then-interim manager Anthony Hudson, fans essentially geotagged his Instagram photos by zooming in and identifying a store in the photo’s background. When Balogun, who had featured for England’s youth teams, finally committed, he was heralded as the No 9 that the U.S. team desperately needed.
Balogun committed when the depth chart at that position was as thin as it had ever been. Things have changed since. Josh Sargent has been in form when healthy at Norwich City, Haji Wright scored 19 goals for Coventry City, also in England’s second tier, Ricardo Pepi has been lethal off the bench for the U.S. and had nine goals for PSV Eindhoven and Brandon Vazquez, who did not make the Copa squad, notched 10 goals in 1,440 minutes after moving to Monterrey in Liga MX.
Balogun, meanwhile, followed up his 21-goal season at Reims with just eight goals and six assists for Monaco. While you can be sure he will come alive at the top end of the field, his shot map below suggests he should have scored more goals in France when considering the quality of chances he has had.
Despite the drop-off in production at the club level, Balogun has a unique skill set for this U.S. team. He is a high-volume shooter capable of creating his own chances, he contributes in link-up play and his ability to run into space behind the lines causes headaches for opposition defences.
With the USMNT, Balogun has faced teams who sit deep and allow them space to play in front of them, but his qualities could become more valuable at this tournament. The best South American sides are more likely to open up and attack, leaving them potentially susceptible to runs in behind.
“Balo has tremendous qualities when you think about his movement behind the back lines, his finishing,” the USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter said in March after games against Mexico and Jamaica. “It’s not always easy against compact opponents but with him, his movement, he has such good quality running behind the back line and in front of goal… that’s just hard to come by sometimes in games like that.”
Paul Tenorio
Vinicius Junior
Brazil’s Neymar era is coming to a close — this is Vinicius Junior’s team now.
At 23, Vinicius Jr is widely regarded as one of football’s brightest talents but for Brazil, he has performed in the shadow of his nation’s all-time leading scorer, Neymar, who also likes to attack from the left. In his first 30 senior caps, Vinicius Jr has scored just three goals, including one from the penalty spot.
It’s been a different story with Real Madrid, where he cracked 20 goals in all competitions for the third year running and last month won a second Champions League trophy to go with a third La Liga title. Not bad for a player who took a while to find his feet in Europe and only really broke out at the age of 21.
Vinicius Jr has regularly caused mayhem for his opposition full-back in La Liga this season as he hugs the touchline and dares anyone to take the ball from him. His ball receptions will begin deeper here, but beware of those driving runs to the byline where he will commit players and take on his man before shooting or creating for others.
These days, it doesn’t even raise an eyebrow to hear his Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, calling Vinicius Jr “the best player in the world” or his team-mate Jude Bellingham lobbying for him to win the Ballon d’Or. He’s genuinely that good.
The question for Brazil is whether that club form can translate to the Copa America, which Neymar will miss with an injury. For all his talent, Vinicius Jr has never been the same style of central playmaker. He usually prefers to stay wide on the left, where he can receive the ball in space — watch for the right centre-back Eder Militao (a team-mate from Real Madrid) to seek him out with long cross-field diagonals — and beat defenders one-v-one.
Yes, Vinicius Jr has got an incredible burst of speed. Sure, he’s technical and elusive. But what makes Vinicius Jr’s dribbling really special is that even though he’s an inverted left-winger, he doesn’t only like to cut inside on his stronger right foot to shoot. When defenders try to play him to the inside to cut off that central attacking route, he’s just as happy to cut to his left and blow past them to the goal line.
One interesting wrinkle is the possibility of Vinicius Jr moving inside to run striker channels the way he did for Real Madrid during this spring’s Champions League run. He has played that role only fleetingly for Brazil, but with no dominant striker in the tournament squad and a wealth of talent at left wing, we may see Vinicius Jr deployed inside Gabriel Martinelli or Savio, or freely swapping lanes with Rodrygo the way he does for Madrid.
Wherever he lines up, expectations will be high for Vinicius Jr to prove he’s ready to take up the baton as Brazil’s best player — and maybe even the best in the world.
John Muller
Savio
In Savio’s case, “breakout season” feels a little tame.
Few had even heard of this mysteriously talented teenager (now 20) before he landed on Spanish shores, snapped up by City Football Group from Brazilian football and sent on an ultimately fruitless loan to PSV Eindhoven. Fewer still expected him to make a tangible impact.
But such has been the fury of his one-man rampage through La Liga this season that he has helped lift Girona to the dizzying heights of the Champions League with him. Nine goals and nine assists tell only half the story; his fearless dribbling ability and searing pace have left everybody wanting more.
Much of Savio’s thrill lies in the old-school; a lesser-spotted left-footed left-winger who does not seem to care if he loses the ball. Comfortable receiving passes on either flank, he can spin into midfield or dart down the line, as consistently effective as he is unpredictable. It has not been an unfamiliar sight to see Savio tear through the centre of the pitch, defenders flailing in his tracks, a genuine magnet for opposition pressure that can open up the gaps elsewhere.
No player has attempted or completed more take-ons in La Liga this season, while only two — Alex Baena and Nico Williams — have registered more assists. The chance-creation map below illustrates one of his signature moves; squaring up to a full-back, dropping the shoulder, before racing to the touchline and cutting the ball back for onrushing midfielders or standing up a cross to the back post, where towering striker Artem Dovbyk would usually be on hand to head home.
As with any young, high-volume winger, enthusiasm can sometimes get the better of Savio – 12.7 percent of his carries involve a one-vs-one, highlighting his relentless forward-thinking. His tenacity mitigates the occasional inaccuracy in his game, made more than worthwhile for the sheer amount of ground he can eat up and defenders he can commit with the ball at his feet.
Whether the 20-year-old gets his opportunity on the international stage this summer remains to be seen, with Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo, Raphinha and Gabriel Martinelli all vying for those wide attacking spots. But Savio brings something refreshing and direct, and is sure to make a lasting impact on the spectator, however carefully his tournament minutes are managed.
Thom Harris
Endrick
One of the biggest compliments you could pay to Endrick, at this nascent stage of his career, is that it’s easy to forget that he is still 17 years old. Not just because his name has been oiling the wheels of the hype machine for some time now — there is an entire cottage industry dedicated to chopping up his best moments and setting them to awful music on YouTube — but because he exudes the kind of maturity that usually only comes later.
This is true on the pitch, where he marries technical ability with intelligence and cool-headedness. It is also true in the broader sense: Endrick may be on the brink of global superstardom in his mid-teens, but there is no sense that the fame and scrutiny are getting to him.
Much like his embryonic club career, Endrick has made light work of international football. His strike against England in March at 17 years and 246 days old made him the fourth-youngest goalscorer for Brazil — behind World Cup winners Ronaldo, Edu and Pele. Not bad company.
His upcoming move to Real Madrid, arranged fully 18 months ago, will not daunt him in the slightest. Nothing seems to.
Endrick was one of those classic Brazilian youth-team prodigies, a semi-mythical figure as he came through the ranks at Palmeiras. When he broke into the first team, shortly after his 16th birthday, he seemed fully formed. Three weeks later, he became the youngest goalscorer in Brazilian top-flight history and he has barely slowed down since, winning back-to-back league titles and breaking into the national team.
From a technical standpoint, his is a slow-burn kind of brilliance, a matter of accretion rather than grand gestures. He is a purposeful dribbler but not a show pony, a scorer of ugly goals as well as beautiful ones. His speed off the mark drives defenders wild, as does his strength; he is squat and muscular, a fact only emphasised by his commitment to wearing the shortest shorts this side of an Aussie rules tournament.
Put all that together and you have the picture of a player who is clinical and explosive. Little wonder, then, that after flirting with other attacking positions, he is increasingly settled as a central striker.
This, clearly, is great news for Brazil, who haven’t had a genuinely top-class No 9 for well over a decade. It also goes some way to explaining why Endrick is so wildly popular in Brazil, even outside the Palmeiras fanbase. Yes, that is partly down to his boyish enthusiasm on the field and all-round nice-guy charm. But there is also growing hope that he is the man to solve the Selecao’s striker crisis — and, if things continue to flow as they have been, to lead them into a bright new era.
Jack Lang
Bruno Guimaraes
“In the months ahead, you will see the Newcastle United version of Bruno in the national team.”
So said Bruno Guimaraes in March and, if the midfielder is as good as his word, Brazil and the Copa America are in for a treat. Put him in a black and white shirt and the 26-year-old is quicksilver, integral, emotional, the pulsing centre of Eddie Howe’s team.
Since starting his first game for Newcastle 25 months ago, they have not won in the Premier League without him (four draws, three defeats). Given that his contract contains a £100million ($127m) release clause, which can be activated until late June, it is shaping up to be a big month, although Newcastle remain confident he will remain with them next season.
Guimaraes is itching to be as involved for his country as he is at St James’ Park, where fans adore him, singing “We’ve got Bruno in the middle, he knows exactly what we need.” Capped 22 times — “I expected a lot more,” he has said — he has only started 12 matches for Brazil, but with the team moving in a new direction under Dorival Junior, he is expected to get his wish.
Capable of playing as a No 6 or No 8, Guimaraes has been fielded in a deep-lying role by Dorival and the omission of Manchester United’s Casemiro from Brazil’s squad is another strong indication that this is where he will figure this summer. He is not a centre-circle-hugging quarterback, however; no Premier League player ran further than his 423km in the season just gone and he was third in the list for completed dribbles.
With the ball at his feet, Guimaraes is electric and he is constantly seeking to move it forward at pace. His passing range is excellent and you can see below from his pass sonar — which visualises the direction and distance of a player’s passes — that his impact on proceedings has grown as he often looks to progress the play.
In the Premier League, his 86 appearances have brought 16 goals and 14 assists. There have also been 20 yellow cards, which is indicative of his spikiness. He plays on the edge, albeit rarely crosses it.
Howe does not do hyperbole, but he willingly describes Guimaraes as world class. “I don’t say that lightly because it’s easy to say, but you have to believe what you’re saying and I do,” the head coach says. “He has unbelievable qualities that we see on a daily basis. He is versatile and fundamentally he has an unbelievable attitude to life and football.”
He has everything and he is ready.
George Caulkin
James Rodriguez
In Colombia, James Rodriguez is a player who divides the fanbase. He’s a national hero to so many. His detractors call him an underachiever. There are many great Colombian footballers from years past, but no player has reached the same heights as Rodriguez, affectionately known as simply, James (Ha-Mez).
The 32-year-old became a household name after winning the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but since then, his career path has only glittered in patches. Colombians hope that Rodriguez has enough magic left to lead his country to the Copa America final. Rodriguez is gifted with a pinpoint-perfect left foot and hunger within himself to be Colombia’s match-winner. He shines when he’s around the opponent’s penalty area.
As a No 10, Rodriguez is Colombia’s orchestrator in midfield who is responsible for providing Colombia’s new star, Liverpool’s Luis Diaz, with precision passes into space. Diaz is Colombia’s marquee player, a vertical threat with goalscoring capabilities, leaving Rodriguez to become more of a tactical wildcard for new manager Nestor Lorenzo. Colombia has adopted a more physical, direct style of play, but creative playmakers are always highly valued in the country that produced Carlos Valderrama.
It also must not be forgotten that Rodriguez still holds an attacking threat himself. While acknowledging his greater collection of international caps, no player in the Colombia squad has scored more goals for their country than Rodriguez as he still packs a goalscoring punch (below).
Rodriguez is Colombia’s captain, but a series of muscle injuries and a lack of match fitness means he isn’t a 90-minute player. “There are players that in 20 minutes give you more than anyone else,” Lorenzo said about Rodriguez in 2022.
This summer’s Copa America will showcase Rodriguez’s talents in front of a global audience for the first time since the 2018 World Cup in Russia. With his opportunities at the club level fading, the national team is Rodriguez’s best bet to rekindle the stardom he enjoyed a decade ago. In April, however, Rodriguez told his Twitch audience that he could retire from football after the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
”The idea is to play at the World Cup in the U.S. and then think about everything,” Rodriguez said. “I want to retire at a major tournament or with a good (club) team, so enjoy me now and follow me during these next three years. They could be my last three years.”
Rodriguez has played a major role during Colombia’s 23-game unbeaten streak, which has included CONMEBOL’s highly competitive World Cup qualifying campaign. Colombia is considered a contender at the Copa America, but even if they fall short of expectations (and barring a disastrous tournament), Rodriguez will feature again on the sport’s biggest stage should Colombia secure their World Cup qualification.
Felipe Cardenas
Jhon Lucumi
For a Colombian centre-back, there is no higher praise than being compared to national team legend Mario Yepes — except when it comes from the man himself.
That is what happened when Yepes managed Jhon Lucumi at Deportivo Cali for 12 months from April 2016. The 102-cap former Colombia captain — and 2001 Copa America winner — would tell those at the club that Lucumi was his country’s best central defender. Now the 25-year-old is showing that with Colombia and Bologna.
It is a striking comparison but one that distracts from Lucumi’s best traits. The left-footed centre-back has always stood out for his skills in possession rather than being a vocal leader — something that his first coaches at Deportivo Cali urged him to work on.
“Here, we like having possession a lot,” one of his former youth coaches, Cesar Hernandez, tells The Athletic. “He had no difficulties in playing out from the back with technical qualities and good decision-making… (but) he wasn’t very expressive, it was one of the things we reproached him for because of his position.”
Lucumi soon attracted interest from Europe and moved to Genk for a reported fee of €2.5million (£2.1m; $2.7m) in 2018. He spent four seasons with the Belgian Pro League side, helping them win the top-flight title in 2019 and the Belgian Cup in 2021. It was also where he started to play alongside his centre-back partner for the national team, Carlos Cuesta.
Bologna signed him for a reported €8million fee in 2022 and he went on to become a mainstay in Thiago Motta’s system. Lucumi was one of three centre-backs trusted with moving into midfield as part of the short-passing game that helped Bologna finish fifth in this season’s Serie A and qualify for the European Cup/Champions League for the first time in 60 years.
Using data from Opta via FBref, his pass completion rate of 93 per cent was the highest in Serie A — made all the more impressive when considering how many passes he would make in a typical game.
“It’s easier to do things with the ball,” Lucumi told Colombian station Caracol Radio last year. “I don’t like running behind it as much as I’m a defender, I like to participate in the play.”
Lucumi is now part of a generation of Colombian players trying to put the disappointment of not qualifying for the 2022 World Cup behind them. An impressive showing in the United States would only confirm Yepes was right about him.
Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero
Luis Diaz
A Premier League footballer’s parents being kidnapped in his home country of Colombia sounds like your classic film plot for a Friday night in. For Luis Diaz, as he prepared for a match against Nottingham Forest in late October, this became his reality.
The Liverpool winger’s life was turned upside down when gunmen on motorbikes kidnapped his father, Luis Manuel, and mother, Cilenis Marulanda. His mother was rescued quickly, but his father remained captured.
’Lucho’, as he is nicknamed at Liverpool, had to deal with the emotional torment of the situation as they waited for news on his father. He returned to action against Luton Town, scoring an emotional stoppage-time equaliser.
Following a large military operation, Diaz’s father was released on November 9 by a Colombian left-wing guerrilla group, 13 days after being taken. It led to an emotional reunion between the pair when Diaz returned for international duty the following week. Fittingly, Diaz scored two goals in a 2-1 victory over Brazil three days later.
Diaz is from La Guajira, the isolated, northernmost region of Colombia. His father’s life revolved around giving children football opportunities, running a small football school where Diaz’s football journey began aged six.
Luis Manuel sold street food, using that money to fund trips for trials. He would also buy DVDs of Ronaldinho, another of his son’s heroes. The dribbling swagger and flair saw Diaz become famous locally for his repertoire of tricks.
Diaz was not signed by a professional club until he was 17 because of the isolation of where he lived and he was chronically underweight. He joined Atletico Junior in Colombia before moving onto Porto and then Liverpool, whom he joined in January 2022.
The winger possesses an incredible work rate and attitude on the pitch. He never seems to tire and is relentless in his attempts to make something happen for his team. He excels at progressing Liverpool up the pitch with his slaloming dribbles averaging 4.5 progressive carries per 90 minutes and 2.2 successful take-ons.
As shown in the graphic below, his tendency to drive inside towards the left half-space before shooting is something Liverpool fans will be used to seeing. Opposition full-backs might know it is coming, but stopping it is a different story altogether.
The biggest question remains around his end product. Thirteen goals and five assists in 51 games is low for a player of his quality. Often he does the hard work brilliantly but cannot find the required final touch — whether that be the pass or finish.
While his focus will be on the Copa America, he is unlikely to escape transfer speculation, which has already begun. Diaz has two years remaining on his Liverpool contract and has been linked to Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, who are his dream club to play for.
Andy Jones
Yaser Asprilla
The first thing that hits you is the name. No, he’s not related to fellow countryman and Newcastle legend Faustino. The 20-year-old is just as confident though.
“The way I’m going, humbly, I am going to be better than him,” he said at Envigado before joining Watford in 2022. “I believe in my characteristics and my talent.”
What did ’Tino’ think?: ”I hope he can overtake us all because that’s good for football and the Colombia team.”
Discovered at a youth competition called ’Baby Football’, he came through the Envigado academy known as ’Cantera de Heroes’ (the Quarry of Heroes) where James Rodriguez, Fredy Guarin and Mateus Uribe emerged.
Asprilla is the latest rough diamond to be unearthed, and he has already sparkled for the national team, with two goals in his first five appearances. His first coach compared his movement to that of Brazilian legend Ronaldinho, whom Asprilla met recently.
Premier League and European scouts have been watching his progress closely since he arrived at Watford. Despite playing in an unsuccessful side, he has been a ray of hope. The Championship club want to keep him for at least another season, but spectacular goals against Norwich City and Rotherham United have heightened the focus on him. He deserves a bigger stage eventually, but Watford hope to build their team around him next season.
Small and slight, but capable of big things, he possesses quick feet and a box of tricks that can leave experienced campaigners flummoxed, especially when he dips his shoulder to either side and rolls away for fun.
Good in tight spaces and capable of accelerating rapidly, he is a real asset in the final third — as shown by the locations of his open-play chances created for Watford last season (below).
His left foot can slam home eye-catching long-range shots, but it’s also a wand for his precise eye-of-the-needle vision. Passion, guts, swagger, he’s got the lot and appears to relish the bigger challenge.
He was voted Watford’s young player of the year and has already amassed 86 appearances and seven goals in the second tier. He has predominantly been used off the right but as the penny dropped that he can pull the strings more centrally, he’s also played as an orthodox No 10.
Baby-faced but mature beyond his years, he has only been used as an impact player for his nation, but he is destined to be a mainstay in the future.
Adam Leventhal
Alejandro Bran
The growth of MLS over the last decade has made a greater impact on CONCACAF’s perceived next tier of combatants than it has on the USMNT.
For all the money invested in youth development, only a handful of young domestic players at MLS teams work their way into the United States’ senior team without first moving to a higher level. This summer, only three of the 26 USMNT squad members play their club soccer in North America — but that doesn’t mean MLS is irrelevant in this Copa America.
Throughout the still-young league’s existence, it has provided an upward move for Central American and Caribbean players who haven’t been spotted by clubs in Europe. National team programs at Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago have all experienced relative hot streaks at some point in the 21st century, often with a handful of MLS players becoming mainstays in the lineup.
For a 20-something-year-old player who has already achieved dominance in their domestic league, MLS (and Liga MX) offer a manageable step up with dependable paychecks.
Costa Rica is in a rebuilding phase after enjoying a ’golden generation’ in the 2010s. The mainstays behind their inspired 2014 World Cup quarterfinal run are firmly on the wane, with stars Keylor Navas and Bryan Ruiz out altogether. Only one player remains from that bygone decade’s squad: Joel Campbell, once a rising Arsenal prospect and now the centerpiece of domestic giant Alajuelense.
A new generation needs to establish itself to keep pace in an increasingly competitive CONCACAF region. That turnover may need to happen fast as 2026 World Cup qualifying will look far different without co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Among the latest to seek out a test in MLS is Alejandro Bran, who’s midway through a year-long loan away from Herediano. He has logged just 217 MLS minutes for Minnesota, and recently dropped to their developmental team for a few games to further refine his game. The 23-year-old has an invaluable instinct to move the ball upfield whenever possible, though, be it with a pass or a dogged run through the heart of the park.
He wasted no time in showing his promise, making a trailing run into the box to cap a counter-attack with a stoppage-time winner on his MLS debut. He isn’t a regular just yet, for club or country. If Bran’s career continues on an upward trajectory, you all can say you remember spotting him during his breakthrough summer.
Jeff Rueter
Manfred Ugalde
How’s this for a statement? Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min is the only forward in world football who works harder than Manfred Ugalde.
That is according to a CIES Football Observatory study of 30 top leagues published in April, which considered the distance covered at high speed and the number of high-pressure actions exerted on opponents to give Ugalde a total score of 95.5 when he was at Dutch side Twente — behind only Son’s score of 100.
“His workrate and finishing are what separate him from others,” a source close to the striker, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, told The Athletic.
One of seven siblings, Ugalde impressed with his finishing from a young age. He scored consistently for boyhood side Saprissa and joined Lommel, the Belgian club part of the City Football Group, in 2020. Then he spent two years on loan at Twente before moving there permanently last summer. Manager Ron Jans called him ’little Aguero’ because he shares a similar physique (at 5ft 8in/172cm) and tenacious style to Sergio Aguero, the former Manchester City striker.
As shown below, his underlying numbers in the first half of the 2023-24 season at Twente show him to be active at the sharp end of the field — averaging 4.2 shots per 90 minutes — even if his overall involvement (shown by his 35.4 touches per 90) in his side’s possession was low compared with other Eredivisie forwards.
Ugalde expressed a desire to play for Aguero’s old club Atletico Madrid but in January, he signed for Russian Premier League side Spartak Moscow for a reported €15million (£12.7m; $16.2million). Those close to him say he was offered a “life-changing” amount of money, with the country under wartime restrictions.
He has scored just once in 16 appearances for Spartak, but many in his home country are just happy to see the 22-year-old playing again for Costa Rica. Ugalde missed the World Cup in Qatar and went more than two years without featuring for his nation after falling out with their former coach Luis Fernando Suarez.
Suarez replaced the striker during a World Cup qualifier against Panama in March 2021, criticising him for a lack of physicality. Ugalde was left on the bench for the following match against Mexico and announced he would not play again while Suarez was in charge, saying he had never “heard a manager discredit a player in this way”. “He’s a quiet kid with a lot of confidence and he’s not going to let anybody talk about him like that,” says the source close to him.
He returned to national duty after Suarez was sacked last year and has already become a key player for the experienced Argentine coach Gustavo Alfaro. After scoring against world champions Argentina in March, Costa Rica will be hoping for more of the same in the United States.
Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero
Miguel Almiron
If you are looking for an immediate visual representation of how Paraguay are performing, then do not use Almiron’s expression as your barometer. The 30-year-old is forever positive, forever smiling, and it is that infectious energy that leads to adoration from his team-mates for club and country alike.
A 55-cap international, Almiron has long held senior status within the Paraguay squad and much hope rests on his performances. The seven goals he has scored for his country is a disappointing return for an attacking-midfielder-cum-winger, yet his speed and creativity will be critical to Paraguay’s chances.
For Newcastle United, Almiron’s story is less linear. Acquired in January 2019 for an initial £16million ($20.3million), fresh from lifting the MLS Cup with Atlanta United, Almiron arrived amid much excitement as the most-expensive export from the United States and arguably the league’s best-ever player.
Hitting the post against Huddersfield Town on his debut proved to be a sliding-doors moment and the Paraguayan did not score in his first 11 months and 26 games. Signed by Rafa Benitez, a fellow Spanish speaker, he added frightening pace and a directness to Newcastle’s attack from the left. But, once Benitez departed, Almiron suffered under Steve Bruce, who seemed unsure how to deploy him, whether as a winger, a No 10 (attacking midfielder) or even as a No 8 (central midfielder).
Almiron’s industriousness made him an automatic pick, however, and he, alongside Allan Saint-Maximin, was tasked with the exhausting assignment of carrying possession upfield from Bruce’s low block.
Although he was a firm fans’ favourite, it was not until Eddie Howe’s arrival in November 2021 that Almiron blossomed, having been shifted to the right. Across the 2022-23 season, he scored 11 Premier League goals, more than in his previous four seasons combined, and was pivotal as Newcastle secured a fourth-placed finish.
As you can see below, he has honed a particular zone from which he regularly pulls the trigger.
Almiron is ideally suited to Howe’s pressing style but, to maximise his effectiveness and to coax more match-defining contributions from him, the coaching staff diligently focused on improving his movement, final-third decision-making and shooting technique, encouraging him to aim higher in the net rather than along the ground.
Last season, Almiron’s productivity waned, with just five goals across 45 games in all competitions. He will forever be ensconced in Geordie folklore, though, for scoring Newcastle’s first Champions League goal in 20 years to kickstart the historic 4-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in October.
Given the constraints of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), and with Howe searching for a right winger, Almiron’s Newcastle future is uncertain. A strong performance at the Copa America may even increase his value and alert clubs to his potential availability.
Chris Waugh
Julio Enciso
Last season was hard for Julio Enciso. The 20-year-old caught the eye in 2022-23, his first season at Brighton after joining from Libertad in Paraguay, as a wiry attacker with a penchant for a long shot and a slightly peculiar running style. He won the Premier League goal of the season for an outrageous effort from distance at home to Manchester City, and it was a nominee for FIFA’s Puskas Award for best goal worldwide.
Since arriving in the Premier League, you can see from his shot map below that an average shot distance of 20.8 yards means you sometimes take the rough with the silky smooth. For every top-corner thunderstrike, there will be a wayward effort that comes from shooting at such low-quality opportunities.
But a meniscus tear, suffered in training, kept him out for most of last season. Enciso assisted twice in Brighton’s second game of the Premier League campaign, away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, but did not play again until late February. Across all competitions, he only managed 15 appearances and seven starts, never playing a full 90, with fewer than half the minutes (593) that he managed in 2022-23 (1,114).
It is the first significant career setback for ‘La Joya’ (the Jewel). Enciso was the youngest debutant in Libertad’s history (aged 15 years, one month and 22 days), then became their youngest scorer. He is also the third-youngest player to score a Copa Libertadores goal.
He was fast-tracked to the senior national team after just three under-16 caps and handed his debut aged 17 years, four months and 23 days in 2021. It says as much about his individual quality and potential as Paraguay’s struggles, with national-record scorer Roque Santa Cruz (32 goals in 112 caps) retiring in 2016. Paraguay have not gone past the Copa America quarter-finals since 2015 and failed to reach any of the last three World Cups.
Enciso, with 13 senior caps, is already experiencing his third national team coach. Eduardo Berizzo gave him his debut, but was sacked six games into 2022 World Cup qualification; Guillermo Barros Schelotto succeeded him but only managed 17 games, with Enciso appearing in nine. Then, injury meant Enciso was not available for Daniel Garnero’s first four games in charge.
This month, Enciso came off the bench in Paraguay’s 0-0 draw with Peru and played the whole of their 3-0 defeat to Chile, but it is tricky to determine his role under Garnero. He played as an attacking midfielder against Chile but has been used on both wings and even as a central striker. Roberto De Zerbi used him similarly at Brighton, and felt he could naturally fit any of those roles.
Newcastle and Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron might have given Enciso the biggest compliment, saying that “the national team shirt did not weigh him down”. He plays with a fearlessness that sometimes manifests as selfishness — Adam Lallana said his biggest improvement area is knowing when to shoot or dribble and when to pass.
Liam Tharme
Gustavo Gomez
If you’re not familiar with Paraguay’s Gustavo Gomez, you can get a pretty clear picture of what he’s all about by considering his nicknames.
As a young man, people called him ’The Bull’, on account of his raw physicality. Over time, the imagery has grown more subtle, focusing instead on his leadership skills and bravery. Gomez is known as ’El Capitan’ and, rather more evocatively, as ’The Marshal’ or ’The Spartan’.
This is, of course, a testament to the linguistic inventiveness that runs through South American football — but you don’t get the nickname treatment if you are just any old player, and Gomez has more than earned the mythic allusions over the years.
A muscular, rugged centre-back, he came through the ranks at Libertad but really made his name in Argentina, helping Lanus win the Primera Division title — only the second in their history — in 2016. When AC Milan came calling that August, it looked for all the world like Gomez was going to be the next Thiago Silva.
It didn’t quite work out that way: Gomez made just 11 league starts across two seasons and was shipped off to Palmeiras in Brazil, initially on loan and then permanently. He has been there ever since.
Europe’s loss has been South America’s gain, for Gomez has consistently been among the continent’s best defenders over the last six years. He is strong in the tackle, composed on the ball and a good reader of the game. He is also a powerhouse in the air, a fact never more evident than when he trundles forward for attacking corners; no centre-back in Palmeiras history has scored more than his 36 goals for the club.
This is illustrated by his smarterscout profile, which gives players a series of ratings from zero and 99. His defensive metrics show him to be one of the most active (’disrupting opposition moves’, 98 out of 99) and effective (’defending impact’, 82 out of 99) centre-backs around.
Gomez’s goalscoring is not the only record he has set. He is also the most successful captain Palmeiras have ever had, his time in Sao Paulo coinciding with a remarkable period of dominance. He has led the club to eight trophies since taking the armband in 2020, including back-to-back successes in the Copa Libertadores. He is still only 31 but icon status is already in the bag.
”I’ve never worked with a man of such character,” Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira said in August. ”He is an example to everyone. People talk about Cristiano Ronaldo’s dedication. I’ve never worked with him, but I do know Gomez and what he does is absurd. He is an outstanding player and the best captain Palmeiras could have.”
That level of appreciation is echoed in the Paraguay set-up. ”He’s an exceptional person,” fellow defender Fabian Balbuena said last year. ”He’s a benchmark for the national team and we’re lucky to have him.”
Jack Lang
(Photos: Getty Images/Design: John Bradford)