Early Final? The Copa América Quarter-Finals Are Set
Colombia and Brazil were the last two teams to qualify for the Copa América quarter-finals, which will feature a stellar matchup.
Colombia and Brazil were the last two teams to secure their spots in the Copa América quarter-finals, completing the matchups.
Argentina 🇦🇷 vs. 🇪🇨 Ecuador (July 4)
La Albiceleste is one of the main favorites to win the tournament. Scaloni's team is aiming to replicate Spain's achievement with the Triple Crown (Copa América - World Cup - Copa América).
They dominated the group stage with a perfect record and now face La Tri, who secured their spot in the quarter-finals after a draw against Mexico in the last match.
The big question for Argentina remains Lionel Messi. His muscle issues caused him to miss the match against Peru, and although he trained with the rest of the squad in Houston for the first time since his injury, it is yet to be seen if he will start against Ecuador.
Venezuela 🇻🇪 vs. 🇨🇦 Canada (July 5)
"Vinotinto" also reached the quarter-finals with a perfect record. This is historic as Venezuela has never achieved a perfect score in the Copa América group stage before.
They will face Alphonso Davies' Canada for a place in the semi-finals. With Salomón Rondón leading the way, Venezuela aims to repeat their 2011 feat in Argentina, when they reached the penultimate match, their best historical performance.
Canada, on the other hand, only needed to score one goal in the group stage to reach the quarter-finals. They lost to Argentina, won 1-0 against Peru, and drew 0-0 with Chile, totaling 4 points to advance.
Colombia 🇨🇴 vs. 🇵🇦 Panama (July 6)
Colombia is another strong favorite in this edition. With a stellar Luis Díaz, the "Cafeteros" were only denied a perfect score by Brazil.
Only Uruguay scored more goals (9) than Colombia (6) in the group stage. In the quarter-finals, they will face Panama, which conceded the most goals among the 8 teams that qualified.
However, Panama scored exactly the same number of goals as Colombia.
Uruguay 🇺🇾 vs. 🇧🇷 Brazil (July 6)
The 1-1 draw between Colombia and Brazil condemned the "Canarinha" to face Uruguay in what will undoubtedly be the biggest quarter-final clash. It could be considered an early final.
Two teams that were expected to win the tournament will now battle for a spot in the semi-finals. One of them will be eliminated.
The "Charrúa," with 9 points out of 9, have had a flawless tournament so far. However, they will face a Brazil team that, despite playing without Vinicius, has the quality to beat anyone. A thrilling match awaits.