Copa America 2021: Outright betting preview

Listen to Pinnacle's Copa America 2021 Insight podcast

Inform your Copa America 2021 predictions with Pinnacle's Copa America 2021 Insight podcast, hosted by James Gregg and featuring Simon Edwards and Infogol's Jake Osgathorpe.

Copa America 2021 schedule

This year’s Copa America is commencing on June 13 with Brazil vs. Venezuela at the Estadio Nacional Mane Garrincha in Brasilia and concludes on July 10 with the final at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The tournament will be comprised of 28 matches across 28 days.

Copa America 2021 teams

A total of 12 teams were initially meant to compete in Copa America 2021, which were later reduced to 10 after both Australia and Qatar withdrew due to scheduling issues. The 10 teams will compete in two groups of five, with the top four from both progressing to the quarter-finals.

From that point, the tournament is a knockout bracket. If the score is tied after 90 minutes, the match will be decided by a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals and extra time followed by penalties in the semi-finals and final.

Group	Teams
Group A	Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
Group B	Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela

Copa America 2021 host stadiums

This year’s Copa America was originally meant to be jointly hosted by Argentina and Colombia. On 20 May, Colombia was removed as co-host due to ongoing protests against the government in the country, and then 10 days later Argentina were stripped of hosting rights amidst concerns about rising COVID-19 cases.

CONEMBOL announced that Brazil would instead host the tournament on May 31, with all 28 matches taking place across just five stadiums:

Stadium	Capacity
Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba	41,112
Estadio Nacional Mane Garrincha, Brasilia	72,788
Estadio Olimpico Nilton Santos, Rio de Janeiro	46,931
Estadio Olimpico Pedro Ludovico, Goiania	13,500
Maracana, Rio de Janeiro	78,838

Who will win Copa America 2021?

Team	Odds	FIFA World Ranking (May 2021)	2019 Copa America performance
Brazil	2.160*	3rd	Winner
Argentina	3.570*	8th	Semi-finals
Colombia	7.760*	15th	Quarter-finals
Uruguay	8.800*	9th	Quarter-finals
Chile	13.650*	19th	Semi-finals
Paraguay	36.890*	35th	Quarter-finals
Ecuador	44.850*	53rd	Group stage
Peru	44.850*	27th	Runners-up
Venezuela	68.000*	30th	Quarter-finals
Bolivia	177.880*	81st	Group stage

Brazil (2.160*) are the defending champions and will perhaps be able to call upon a better squad than the one that lifted the trophy two years ago courtesy of the addition of Neymar, who missed the Copa America in 2019 through injury. Tite’s side have lost just two matches since that triumph and commenced their qualifying campaign for the 2022 World Cup in impressive fashion, winning all of their opening five matches while netting an average of just under three goals per game.

An arguable lack of strength in depth may prove Colombia's downfall.

Indeed, Neymar can be added to an already formidable attack boasting the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino, and Vinicius Jr., while Alisson, Thiago Silva, and Marquinhos ensure defensive stability. A case could be made that there is room for improvement in midfield, but the fact remains that Brazil are a highly intimidating team who seem more than capable of outscoring any given opponent and will likely consider anything other than back-to-back titles a disappointment, particularly as they are now also hosts.

The Copa America has been a consistent source of recent heartbreak for Argentina (3.570*), who were beaten finalists at four of the last six editions. While they have lost their status as narrow favourites since it has been confirmed they are no longer hosting the tournament, the betting market still suggests that they possess an encouraging chance of lifting the Copa America trophy for the first time in 28 years.

Their squad is stacked with recognisable talent, but as usual their chances will likely and largely depend on the form of Lionel Messi. The captain has previously exhibited his ability to almost single-handedly guide his country through the tournament, although his last five Argentina appearances brought only two goals both from the penalty spot. With a midfield including PSG pair Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes as well as Giovani Lo Celso, they will presumably prove a difficult team to keep the ball against, and despite failing to win the tournament in the process, they have only lost three Copa America matches in 90 minutes since 2007.

Colombia’s (7.760*) quarter-final exit in 2019 was broadly considered an underperformance. They can call upon a squad featuring several talented but also a few ageing names, for whom this tournament could represent a final opportunity for international silverware. Their combination of flair and physicality makes them an inherently tricky opponent, although their heavy defeats to Uruguay and Ecuador at the end of 2020 that culminated in the sacking of Carlos Queiroz was a firm reminder that they are beatable.

New manager Reinaldo Rueda will not get extensive time to work with the squad ahead of the tournament, meaning it would be unsurprising if they rely more on individual prowess than tactical nous. While the injured James Rodriguez will be missed, the likes of Juan Cuadrado and Duvan Zapata guarantee a strong starting 11, although an arguable lack of strength in depth may prove their downfall.

Uruguay (8.800*) find themselves in a similar situation. While a squad including Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani, Diego Godin, and Martin Caceres would be among the front-runners for any given tournament, all four are now aged 34 and above and their inconsistent results of late portray a team coming to the end of an era. While Uruguay are still one of the continent’s strongest sides, they have recently struggled in the Copa America and failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals since they won it in 2011.

Chile (13.650*) are a team in transition, and currently in the process of building a squad geared towards future success around young, emerging stars. However, their back-to-back triumphs in 2015 and 2016 underlined their capability to exceed expectations in the competition, and they may rate their chances of a top-two finish in Group A.

While Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal are stalwarts for the national side, their squad does suffer from a potentially worrying lack of proven goalscorers at international level.

Copa America 2021 outright betting: Which teams could cause an upset?

Paraguay (36.890*) qualified from the group stage in 2019 by the barest of margins and without winning a game, although they did then take Brazil to penalties in their quarter-final. Their recent draw against Uruguay stretched their unbeaten streak to seven matches, and thus could once again prove to be a frustrating opponent in the knockout stages.

When on form, Peru are defensively resilient.

The betting market suggests that Ecuador (44.850*) are firm outsiders who are expected to finish bottom of Group B, as they did in 2019 by collecting a lone point. However, they recently started their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign with three wins from five games that included a 6-1 thrashing of Colombia, and can field an array of young midfield talents including Sporting Lisbon’s Gonzalo Plata and Brighton’s Moises Caicedo.

Peru (44.850*) have been inconsistent since they were surprise finalists two years ago, demonstrating their ability to take on supposedly better teams with a 1-0 win against Brazil in September 2019, but also losing three successive World Cup qualifiers at the end of 2020. When on form, they are defensively resilient and can lean on the experience of 36-year-old forward Jefferson Farfan to grind out results. They shouldn’t encounter significant difficulty in progressing from their group and a favourable quarter-final opponent could mean a last-four spot is more than plausible.

Don't forget to read our previews for both Copa America 2021 groups: Group A and Group B.

Looking forward to this year’s Copa America? Win Your Way by checking out the latest Copa America 2021 odds on every match and group, outright markets, and more with Pinnacle.