(Previous) Leo Messi’s Argentina wants to emulate Spain and close the triplet in the Copa América

Leo Messi’s Argentina and Vinícius Jr’s Brazil will start as the main favorites to win the Copa América that starts this Thursday in the United States, with the ‘Albiceleste’ trying to emulate Spain and close an unprecedented triplet in which they could be the Rosario’s last major tournament, and with the ‘Canarinha’ seeking revenge to definitively stop its sporting crisis. The forty-eighth edition of the competition will begin with the clash between the current world and tournament champion against Canada, the only debutant and first touchstone for an Argentine team that is experiencing its best era and that wants to chain the Copa América-World-Cup triplet America to replicate what the Spanish team did between 2008 and 2012 with the Euro-World Cup-Euro Cup. With a continuous selection after the third star in Qatar and under the leadership of his ’10’, Lionel Scaloni’s team will undoubtedly be the rival to beat, starting with Group A where, in addition to the Canadians, they will have opposition from Peru and Chile . Messi will act as leader of a group with other prominent figures such as colchoneros Rodrigo de Paul and Nahuel Molina, Ángel di María, Enzo Fernández, Julián Álvarez and Alexis Mac Allister. The great rivals of the Argentines will once again be Brazil, which has just gone through a bad time since its elimination against all odds in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar and with the new project led by Dorival Júnior, the one chosen for the bench after Carlo Ancelotti’s final refusal. The ‘Canarinha’, champion in 2019 and runner-up at home in 2021 against their great South American ‘enemy’, will appeal to the leadership of Vinícius Júnior, who will seek his first title with the national team after winning LaLiga EA Sports and the Champions League with the Real Madrid, which would surely bring him a little closer to the fight for the Ballon d’Or. Without the presence of Neymar Jr, the Real Madrid player will be accompanied by his teammates Rodrygo Goes and the young Endrick, who at 17 years old will be one of the threats, and by the blaugrana Raphinha, references of a ‘Canarinha’ that is trying to straighten its course after a discreet start to the South American Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup where it has already suffered three defeats, one of them against Colombia, a rival in Group D along with Paraguay and Costa Rica. OTHER CANDIDATES In addition to Argentina and Brazil, among the candidate teams to win the title is the always dangerous Uruguay, with 15 titles like the ‘Albiceleste’, a Colombia on the rise, a Chile far from its best moment, but twice champion of the tournament in the last ten years. Nor can we forget the United States, which arrives with a young team but very hungry to do something great at home, or Mexico. Uruguay, drawn in Group C along with the hosts, Panama and Bolivia, arrives at the Copa América with a team that has veteran striker Luis Suárez, who will captain a team formed by Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde, Liverpool attacker Darwin Núñez or the Barça centre-back Ronald Araujo, and which will be directed by the wisdom of Marcelo Bielsa. The Colombian team, led by Néstor Lorenzo, arrives in the United States with a team led by Liverpool striker Luis Díaz or James Rodríguez who seeks to recover some of the brilliance lost a long time ago and that took him away from the football front page. For its part, Chile faces the Copa América with a young and growing team, like the United States, which wants to take advantage of the tournament to increase its level for the World Cup that it will host in 2026 together with Canada and a Mexico that wants to be also an alternative to the South American CONCACAF that also contributes to Jamaica and Panama.