Copa America 2024: Group C Primers - Bolivia, Panama, United States, Uruguay
The USMNT's test run for hosting the 2026 World Cup is here, but can they top a group featuring Uruguay and Bielsa-ball?
At last, what most of us have been waiting for, the United States Men’s National Team begins their Copa America campaign tonight against Bolivia with Uruguay and Panama in the nightcap.
For the USA, this is an important test run for not just hosting the World Cup but their performance in the tournament as well. The USMNT as hosts should expect to make a deep knockout run at the World Cup, but if you can’t make the semifinals of Copa America on home soil then how can we expect them to do the same four years from now against somehow better competition?
Because make no mistake, the U.S. does not have an easy path with Uruguay in the group and likely Brazil or Colombia waiting in the quarterfinals and the last team standing of that group in the semifinals. But if we can and should place lofty expectations on the hosts in two years time, then it’s perfectly reasonable to put the same expectations on them now.
Anyway, below is some relevant tidbits and TV schedules for your not-entirely preview reading.
TV SCHEDULE
June 23
United States vs. Bolivia: 6 p.m., FOX, Univision/TUDN — AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Uruguay vs. Panama: 9 p.m., FOX, Univision/TUDN — Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
June 27
Panama vs. United States: 6 p.m., FOX, Univision/TUDN — Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
Uruguay vs. Bolivia: 9 p.m., FOX, UniMas/TUDN — MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
July 1
United States vs. Uruguay: 9 p.m., FS1, Univision/TUDN — Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Bolivia vs. Panama: 9 p.m., FS2, UniMas — Exploria Stadium, Orlando, FL
BOLIVIA [BOL/C4]
Head Coach: Antonio Carlos Zago (BRA)
FIFA Ranking* (as of seeding in November 2023): 85 Nickname: La Verde
Qualification: CONEMBOL, Automatic
Appearance: 29th Best Finish: Champions (1963)
Roster Breakdown: 20 Domestic, 2 Brazil, 1 Ecuador, 1 Russia, 1 Spain, 1 Switzerland
Recent Matches (all played in USA): Friendly L vs Mexico 0-1; Friendly L vs Ecuador 1-3; Friendly L vs Colombia 0-3
Player To Know/Watch: FW Rodrigo Ramallo, The Strongest (BOL), 40 Int’l caps/7 Int’l goals – Yes the team is called The Strongest (Bolivian league names are great, Always Ready were the runner-ups) and they’re in the Libertadores knockouts so that counts for something. Ramallo has the highest goal record on the squad after the retirement of Marcelo Martins and his nation-leading 31 tallies internationally.
Tournament Outlook
An absolutely brutal draw for a team that has just one quarterfinal appearance in Copa America since they finished runners-up as hosts back in 1997. Getting the USA and Uruguay first almost certainly means they’ll a result over Panama to advance if it even matters at that point. They did knock off Peru at home in WCQ towards the end of last year but with just that lone win out of six games La Verde doesn’t seem likely to make their fourth ever World Cup tournament.
PANAMA [PAN/C3]
Head Coach: Thomas Christiansen (DEN)
FIFA Ranking: 41 Nickname: Los Canaleros
Qualification: CONCACAF Nations League Semifinalist
Appearance: 2nd Best Finish: Group Phase (2016)
Roster Breakdown: 3 USA/MLS, 3 Costa Rica, 2 Ecuador, 2 Israel, 2 Peru, 2 Slovakia, 1 Azerbaijan, 1 Colombia, 1 England, 1 France, 1 Guatemala, 1 Honduras, 1 Mexico, 1 Portugal, 1 Saudi Arabia, 1 Serbia, 1 Spain, 1 Ukraine, 1 Uruguay
Recent Matches: WCQ W vs Guyana 2-0, WCQ W at* Montserrat (*-played in Nicaragua), Friendly L vs Paraguay 1-0
Player To Know: MID Anibal Godoy, Nashville FC (USA/MLS), 140 Int’l caps/4 goals – The stalwart holding midfielder and captain is far and away the most experienced player on this roster and we’ll see how much he can do to shield his backline against the USA and Uruguay because if he struggles it could be a long group for the Canaleros.
Player To Watch: F/W Jose Luis Rodriguez, Red Star Belgrade (SRB), 48 Int’l caps/6 goals – “Puma” notched a goal in each of Panama’s most recent qualifiers and as well as Nations Leagues goals in wins last fall against Curacao and Costa Rica. If that scoring form continues from out wide than Panama can absolutely play spoiler or darkhorse in this group.
Tournament Outlook
The ever-consistent if unspectacular Canaleros, their golden generation of Blas Perez, Jaime Penedo, and the Dely brothers might be gone but they’re still around and gave Costa Rica a drubbing in the CNL quarters last fall before bowing out against Mexico in the spring. In a different group they would have a stronger chance to grab second place, but like their 2016 group that featured Argentina and Chile, they’re likely playing third fiddle again. They’ve been known to frustrate the U.S. on more than one occasion, especially in Panama City, so their final game against Bolivia has a chance to be something other than an over-glorified friendly between two already-eliminated teams but without an upset win, it might be very hard for them to advance.
UNITED STATES [USA/C1]
Head Coach: Gregg Berhalter (USA)
FIFA Ranking: 12 Nickname: The Yanks
Qualification: CONCACAF Nations League Winners, seeded as hosts
Appearance: 5th Best Finish: Fourth Place (1995, 2016)
Roster Breakdown: 3 Domestic/MLS, 9 England,
Recent Matches: Friendly L vs Colombia 1-5; Friendly D vs Brazil 1-1
Player To Know: GK Matt Turner, Nottingham Forest (ENG), 41 Int’l caps – This is a pro Matt Turner website and any slander of those five goals he allowed should mostly go to his defense...but both Turner and that back line was much improved against Brazil and I would very much like to see more of that.
Player To Watch: MF Tyler Adams, Bournemouth (ENG), 39 Int’l caps/2 Int’l goals – According to reports, Adams will be available for the opener though I would use him cautiously against Bolivia and Panama, maybe a 45-minute shift to build up his minutes ahead of more difficult matches. But his return will be a welcome sight for the U.S. midfield.
Tournament Outlook
There might be a full column on this later, but the general idea is that this is the USMNT test run for the World Cup in two years. The competition is solid and the group will likely be similar to the one they’ll get as hosts in 2026, one good to great Pot 2 team (Uruguay), a frisky/solid Pot 3 team (Panama), and a bad Pot 4 team (Bolivia) that should result in the USA getting at least three positive results if not wins if they want to be taken seriously. At worst here the U.S. can drop points against Uruguay and still advance and the path through Group D (Brazil/Colombia) will be a tough test but anything short of a semifinal here should be a massive disappointment and any performance half as bad as the Colombia friendly at this point in Berhalter’s tenure is unacceptable.
URUGUAY [URU/C2]
Head Coach: Marcelo Bielsa (ARG)
FIFA Ranking: 11 Nickname: La Celeste
Qualification: CONEMBOL, Automatic
Appearance: 46th Best Finish: Winners (15 times, last in 2011)
Roster Breakdown: 6 Brazil, 5 Spain, 3 Mexico, 2 England, 2 Italy, 2 Russia, 2 USA/MLS, 1 Colombia, 1 Denmark, 1 France, 1 Portugal
Recent Matches: Friendly win vs Mexico 4-0 (played in Denver)
Player To Know: FW Luis F Suarez, Inter Miami FC (USA/MLS), 138 Int’l caps/68 Int’l goals – You might have heard of this guy, he also has 12 goals in 16 games (a little under 1200 minutes) in his first season in MLS playing with some other guy who also has 12 goals so far this year...
Player To Watch: MID Federico Valverde, Real Madrid (ESP), 56 Int’l caps/6 goals – When you start in central midfield for the UEFA Champions League winners, you should pay attention to what he’s doing at all times.
Tournament Outlook
I know Uruguay are as enigmatic as their star striker Suarez, but the fact that this team hasn’t made a semifinal in the Copa or World Cup since that infamous 2010 run aided by a certain deliberate handball in the quarterfinals. Bielsa has this team humming in WCQ, where they’ve beaten Brazil at home and Argentina away, and their only major blemish was a road loss at Ecuador in altitude. If there was a year to break that trend, this would be it. Uruguay could arguably be the favorites in this group outright though a tough quarterfinal draw awaits with likely Brazil or Colombia waiting out of Group D. I would love for Bielsa ball to lead this talented group on one more great run here or in two years time.
GROUP OVERVIEW
This should be a two-team race between the USA and Uruguay with the group finale deciding who gets the top spot in the group. Would I be incredibly upset if the USMNT drew Uruguay and finished second in the group on goal difference or something, no. I think the overall minimum here should be three strong performances and clinching the knockouts before that third match. Those blowouts in the friendlies make me think Uruguay has the edge for the top of the group.
I am curious to see how Panama does though because they’re so solid against the middle tier of CONCACAF but the step up in stakes and competition does highlight the talent disparity. Still, I think they can absolutely compete in this group but might be chasing the first two games and that’s a tough ask.
GROUP PREDICTIONS
Uruguay - United States - Panama - Bolivia