Bodog’s Copa America Betting Preview
Soccer fans unite. Not only is Euro 2024 in full swing, we now have the Copa America kicking off. We’re truly spoilt for choice, and Bodog Sportsbook’s Copa America betting preview will really help ramp up the excitement.
Is the Copa America better than the European Championships? There’s no question that the world’s best men’s national soccer teams can be found in South America and Europe, but the latter continent has over three times as many countries – and 55 UEFA members to build a tournament around, compared to just 10 for CONMEBOL.
Not a problem. In 1993, the Copa America started inviting select teams from other continents to participate; Canada will be making their first appearance at this year’s event, which is being hosted by the United States as a warm-up to the 2026 World Cup.
Their inclusion, alongside four other CONCACAF members, gives us a full 16-team slate for the 2024 Copa America, kicking off this Thursday (8 PM ET) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta when Canada face the defending champions from Argentina. And Bodog Sportsbook will be there all the way through to the final on July 14 in Miami Gardens.
Argentina seem to be winning everything these days. They’re the favourites to defend their title, but this promises to be another close race with their eternal rivals from Brazil – and because this is soccer, just about anyone can put their names on that gorgeous Copa America trophy. Who knows, maybe this will be the Cup that Canada gets to take home this year.
The Favourites
It won’t be easy. Argentina enter the 2024 Copa America as +150 favourites on the soccer odds board at Bodog, having won the 2022 World Cup to stake their claim as the best team in the world. La Albiceleste have held the No. 1 spot on the FIFA rankings since April 2023; they’ve been especially tough to beat since eight-time Ballon D’Or winner Lionel Messi returned to international soccer after a brief retirement in 2016.
Brazil (+225, No. 5 in the FIFA rankings) were the top team in South America – if not the world – for most of the 20 years before Messi’s return. But a string of failed managerial reigns left La Selecao on the outside looking in, until the arrival of current head coach Dorival Junior in January. Dorival is coming off back-to-back domestic titles with Flamengo and Sao Paulo, and has the luxury of leaning on star talent like Vinicius Jr, a top candidate to wrestle this year’s Ballon D’Or award from Messi.
As is often the case, Argentina and Brazil are dominating the Copa America betting. But they don’t always win; Uruguay (+500, No. 15 FIFA) used to be on par with them, and they’ve found their form again over the past decade or so – although the post-pandemic years have been marked by front-office chaos. The good news is Marcelo Bielsa, their most recent hire in May 2023, led Uruguay to wins over both Argentina and Brazil in World Cup qualifying.
Dark Horses
Every dog has its day in international soccer. While Argentina and Brazil were going through some rough patches, Chile (+3300, No. 42 FIFA) won the Copa America in 2015 and 2016, the first on home soil and the second in the United States. Unfortunately, La Roja have been on the decline ever since, and they’re in a very tough Group A with Argentina at the top.
Colombia (+1000, No. 12 FIFA) are former Copa winners as well, back in 2001, and a more likely team than Chile to pull it off again. But at these odds, we can’t really call them dark horses; same goes for Team USA (+1200, No. 11 FIFA), who finished in fourth place the last time they hosted this tournament.
There’s also a bit too much talent on board for Ecuador (+1600, No. 31 FIFA) and especially Mexico (No. 14 FIFA) to fit in the dark horse category, although both of their national teams have to overcome some difficult situations within their borders. And there’s virtually no chance of victory for CONCACAF long shots like Jamaica (+20000, No. 55 FIFA) and Panama (+35000, No. 45 FIFA).
That leaves Chile holding down the spotlight in this betting category. But there’s room for at least two more teams, including another former Copa champion in Peru (+10000, No. 32 FIFA), who were the runners-up in 2019 after winning it all in 1939 and 1975. All they have to do is make it out of Group A – then anything can happen.
Canada Betting
That’s the tricky part for our remaining dark horse of note. Yes, Canada (+10000, No. 49 FIFA) have also been placed in Group A with Argentina, Chile and Peru, making this the Group of Death for the 2024 Copa America. Only two can advance to the knockout stage.
We’ve devoted an entire Copa preview to Team Canada following on from their defeat to Argentina, so we won’t spoil the entire story for you here. Suffice to say that Canada’s men’s national team has rarely looked better than it does today. Let’s hope that scoreless draw against France in their June 9 friendly is a sign of things to come under new head coach Jesse Marsch.
In the meantime, Bodog Sportsbook has many different ways you can bet on Canada at the 2024 Copa America. In addition to their Copa title odds, Canada are +175 to qualify for the knockout stage, +900 to win Group A, +550 to reach the semi-finals, and +1600 to make the final. And if you really want to show off your Canadian pride, try the Tournament Winner and Top Goalscorer Parlay, where Canada and Alphonso Davies are on the board at +50000.
Top Scorer Odds
Talented as he is, it’ll be difficult for Davies to win the Copa America Golden Boot as a fullback/winger hybrid; his name isn’t included among the 35 Bodog has listed at press time. The players at the top of the list are from teams expected to make a deep run towards the final, with Messi (+300) leading the way for Argentina and Vinicius Jr. (+450) for Brazil.
This is a short tournament, and it’s soccer, so the Golden Boot is very much up for grabs. Julian Alvarez, the Argentine forward from Manchester City, is fourth on the board at +800; another Messi teammate, forward Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), is fifth at +900.
On the Brazilian side with Vinicius Jr., you have forward Rodrygo (Real Madrid) in sixth place at +900 and forward Endrick (Palmeiras) in eighth at +2000. If anyone’s going to crash this goalscoring party, it’s third favourite Darwin Nunez, the gifted Uruguay forward from Liverpool at +550.
It’s entirely possible the Golden Boot will be shared this year. That’s what happened in 2021, when Messi and Colombian winger Luis Diaz (+4000 for 2024) finished with four goals apiece. Dead heat rules apply in this case; for example, if you wager $100 on Messi to win Top Goalscorer, and he shares it again with one other person, half your bet will be returned to you, and Messi’s +300 odds will be applied to the remaining $50.
Previous Tournaments
Normally, the most recent result at the Copa America would have the most to tell us about what might happen this year. The 2021 tournament was held under unusual circumstances; Argentina and Colombia were meant to co-host in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ongoing unrest in Colombia, the Copa was delayed a year and moved to Brazil, with only 10 teams playing after invitees Australia and Qatar backed out.
Argentina still managed to win anyway. This was their first major trophy since 1993, and they did it by beating Brazil 1-0 in the final, on a 22nd-minute goal by Angel Di Maria. However, Argentina had to survive a semi-final penalty shoot-out with Colombia, and they drew their opener 1-1 with Chile before sweeping their remaining Group A matches.
While Messi, Di Maria and others make their return for 2024, Brazil’s Copa America squad looks a lot different than the one that took home the hardware in 2019 – and that’s not even factoring in the absence of Neymar, who is out for the year with a torn left knee after missing the 2019 tournament with an ankle injury.
Without their talisman, Brazil had some shaky moments at that Copa, like their scoreless draw versus Paraguay in the quarter-finals that Brazil won on penalties. Beating Argentina 2-0 in the semis and Peru 3-1 in the final was impressive, though, and while most of the names have changed, Tottenham forward Richarlison is back on the squad after scoring that last goal against Peru.
Most Copa Wins
In theory, the Copa America happens every other year; in practice, it’s all over the map. Uruguay are tied with Argentina as the top winners with 15 championships, in large part because the Copa was held almost annually during Uruguay’s glory days – six of those titles were won between 1916 (the very first Copa) and 1926.
Brazil are a distant third on the Copa America table with nine championships, although they’ve been runners-up on 12 different occasions. Their most dominant run was between 1997 and 2007, when they took four of five titles. Remarkably, Brazil never won the Copa with Pele at the helm, despite claiming three World Cups in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
Aside from Chile and Peru, the only other team to win the Copa twice was Paraguay, in 1953 and 1979. That leaves Colombia and Bolivia (1963) as the remaining champions. Mexico have never taken this event despite reaching the final in 1993 and 2001, and we have yet to see a winner from outside the CONMEBOL region.
Superstars
No matter what part of the world you live in, if you’re a soccer fan, you’re probably familiar with at least a handful of the players who will be performing at the 2024 Copa America. For that matter, even if you’re relatively new to the Beautiful Game, you’ll have heard of the No. 1 player on our Top 5 list here at Bodog Sportsbook. Keep an eye on all these big names during the tournament, and check back in with Bodog for in-depth analysis and the latest odds as Team Canada prepares for battle.
Lionel Messi, Argentina
This could be Messi’s last major tournament. Now that he’s gotten over the hump at both the Copa America and the World Cup, Messi doesn’t need a victory here to cement his legacy, but he’s still the one everyone will be watching – and betting on. There’s even a “Requested Special” on the board at Bodog that will pay out at –115 if Messi is fouled at least 20 times during the tournament.
Vinicius Junior, Brazil
We might see a passing of the torch between Messi and Vinicius at the Copa America. Vinicius is coming off a Champions League victory with Real Madrid, where the 23-year-old forward found the back of the net in their 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund; Vinicius was named UEFA’s Player of the Season for his efforts.
Federico Valverde, Uruguay
Yet another Real Madrid sensation, Valverde is a versatile central midfielder who has featured on Uruguay’s senior squad since 2017, and his connection there with Vinicius is sublime – although they’ll be on opposite sides this time around. Can Valverde work the same magic with Nunez up front?
Rodrigo De Paul, Argentina
Playing in Messi’s shadow hasn’t stopped De Paul from making a name for himself. The central midfielder from Atletico Madrid made his international debut for Argentina in 2018, and quickly became a regular fixture. It was his long pass that found Di Maria for the winning goal at the 2021 Copa America.
Alphonso Davies, Canada
We can’t talk about the Copa without mentioning Davies one more time. Arguably the best North American player of all time, Davies was born in Ghana, raised in Edmonton, and moved to Vancouver to join the Whitecaps program. Then it was off to Bayern Munich, where Davies won the treble in 2019-20. After scoring Canada’s first-ever World Cup goal in 2022, will our new team captain do it again in 2024? Stay tuned.
With so much soccer still left to be played, who will you be backing in the Copa America betting? Be sure to place your bets at Bodog Sportsbook.