Copa América 2024: Group B Preview
Feyenoord's Santi Giménez has been one of the few bright spots for Mexico in a rough several years for the football-mad nation. Can the young forward help El Tri overachieve in this tournament as de facto hosts?
Mexico
FIFA Rank: 14th
Last Copa América performance: Quarterfinals (2016)
The Skinny
This tournament should have been a drool-inducing opportunity for Mexico. The beasts of North America for so many years, it's a rare chance for El Tri to square up against some titans from South America, and with a rabid fanbase that has a massive population in the United States, they will essentially play home matches for as long as they are in the tournament. And yet... most Mexican fans are eyeing the arrival of the Copa América with dread, as their beloved national team has endured one of the worst stretches in its illustrious history of late. For my entire lifetime (and yours too, regardless of your age), it had been a quadrennial tradition for El Tri to reach the Round of 16 at the World Cup, but in 2022, they failed to do even that, managing only to beat Saudi Arabia in the group stages. They have been wholly surpassed in the CONCACAF food chain by archrivals USA, having failed to beat the Yanks since 2019, and lost to them in the last 4 continental tournaments. What looked like a home run hire 5 years ago of Tata Martino as manager crashed and burned, and new manager Jamie Lozano has far lesser talent to work with than most coaches in the past. So in short, times are not great for Mexico. That said, they did return to the trophy podium at the 2023 Gold Cup, they have a handful of exciting young players, and of course, they'll have raucous backing in every match they play.
The Best XI
A 'new-look' Mexico lacks the familiar names of Rafa Marquez, Guillermo Ochoa, Andres Guardado and Chucky Lozano, among others. Their team is overwhelmingly comprised now of Liga MX-based players, including all 3 of their goalkeepers; Club América's Luis Malagón would be my pick to succeed the consistently brilliant gloves of Memo Ochoa. However, there's a handful of European-based talent, spread out nicely amongst each part of the field. Porto's Jorge Sánchez and Almeria's César Montes are an experienced and talented CB pair, and captain and West Ham mainstay Edson Álvarez patrols the defensive midfield in front of them. Up in the attack, Athens-based attacker Orbelín Pineda has been Mexico's chief source of goals over the last two years, while young Feyenoord striker Santiago Giménez has been the fans' great hope for the next generation, and punctuated his arrival last summer with the Gold Cup-winning goal in the Final against Panama.
Jamaica
FIFA Rank: 55th
Last Copa América performance: Group stage, 0 points (2016)
The Skinny
Jamaica has long occupied a sort of "third tier" in North America: good enough to consistently qualify for-- and often make noise in --the Gold Cup, or the final rounds of World Cup qualifying, which puts them ahead of most nations in CONCACAF, but never win the tournament (like the U.S. or Mexico) or ever qualify for the World Cup (like Costa Rica, Canada or Panama). Could this be the tournament where they finally take a step up to a new level? An influx of talent, buoyed by English-based dual nationals, might suggest it is, as would recent results, as Jamaica reached the semifinals of both last year's Gold Cup and this year's Nations League and in each case, was only beaten narrowly by Mexico and the U.S., respectively. Unfortunately for the Reggae Boyz, player disputes related to federation mismanagement have threatened to derail this window of opportunity for Jamaica right as it was opening. Can Icelandic manager Heimir Hallgrímsson, who famously led his home nation on a stunning quarterfinal run at the 2016 Euros, bring squad harmony back and maximize this group's talent this summer?
The Best XI
In an embodiment of the player disputes/squad disharmony present, a would-be star of this teamsheet, Aston Villa's Leon Bailey, publicly insinuated on Instagram that he would not in fact be going to the Copa América after the official squad announcement. But as of this writing, his name is still on Jamaica's roster, and should he get over whatever his gripe is, he'd be part of a fearsome, Premier-League-based attacking tandem, along with West Ham's Michail Antonio, Everton's Demarai Grey, and Fulham's Bobby Decordova-Reid. In fact. it's a nearly entirely England-based teamsheet for the Reggae Boyz, with Brentford's Ethan Pinnock helming the defense, and all other defenders and midfielders starters for Championship teams. The lone exception would be Philadelphia Union goalkeeper Andre Blake, who has long been one of, if not THE best goalie in the MLS.
Venezuela
FIFA Rank: 54th
Last Copa América performance: Group stage, 2 points (2021)
The Skinny
Venezuela is an anomaly in South America, the only member of the history-rich and successful CONMEBOL to never qualify for a World Cup. Their continental record wasn't much better... until the last decade. Having never reached the semifinals previously, they did that for the first time in 2011, finishing 4th place at that tournament after only losing in penalties. They followed that up with major upsets of Colombia, Uruguay and Mexico in the 2015 and 2016 tournaments, reaching the quarterfinal round of the latter, and then emerged unbeaten from a group that included hosts and eventual champions Brazil in 2019, once again meeting their demise to Argentina in the quarterfinal stage. The 2021 Copa América, in which they managed only 2 draws and no wins, was their worst tournament in nearly 20 years, and more World Cup qualifying disappointment immediately followed. But under manager Fernando Batista, La Vinotinto are off to their brightest World Cup qualifying start in history, and have lost only one competitive match in the last 2 years. Can they ride the good form to another surprise run in the Copa América?
The Best XI
Venezuela's squad centers around two of their all-time greats: captain Tomás Rincón, who is their most-capped player on all time, and Salomón Rondón, the nation's all-time leading scorer. The latter will lead a talented attacking trio with fellow vets Darwin Machís (Cadíz) and Jefferson Savarino (Botafago), while the former helms a midfield that sees impact players from plucky Girona and Toulouse teams. Almost the entirety of La Vinotinto's line of defense, including likely starting goalie Rafael Romo, is based in South American league play, but the lone exception is Parma's Yordan Osorio, likely to be the focal point of the back line.
Ecuador
FIFA Rank: 31st
Last Copa America performance: Quarterfinals (2021)
The Skinny
In some ways, Ecuador is almost the anti-Venezuela. By that I mean, they have a relatively recent but fairly impressive World Cup pedigree, having qualified for every edition of the tournament save for one in the 21st century, won at least one match in each instance, and reached the Round of 16 in two different tournaments. Yet, at least by the standards you would reasonably set for a nation that consistently decent at the highest level, La Tri have found far less success at the Copa América. Only twice have they ever reached the semifinal stage, and both occasions it was on home soil (the most recent occurrence coming in 1993). Despite frequently being among the higher-ranked half of teams competing in the Copa, they have only quarterfinal exits in 2016 and 2021 to write home about since that '93 4th place finish on Ecuadorian ground. They may have their best chance in some time to buck that trend in this year's tournament; La Tri have the second-highest ranked team in Group B, and one look at the teamsheet tells you they have an argument for having more talent at their disposal than favored Mexico. Can Ecuador live up to, or even exceed, expectations this time around?
The Best XI
The biggest names for Ecuador will both play down the middle of the park, with captain and all-time leading scorer Enner Valencia again the focal point of the attack, and record Chelsea signing Moises Caicedo patrolling the defensive midfield. The injury to the latter's former Brighton teammate Pervis Estupiñán is a big loss in the Ecuadorian defense, but fortunately they can still rely on the services of Bayer Leverkusen's Piero Hincapié and Sparta Prague's Ángelo Preciado on the flanks, and Eintracht Frankfurt's Willian Pacho in the middle of the defense. European experience is also present in the attack, with Ipswich Town's Jeremy Sarmiento the likely candidate to partner with Valencia and fellow veteran Ángel Mena, while Ecuadorian-based Alexander Domínguez is the likely choice of La Tri's three veteran options at goalie
Group Prediction
From an objective perspective, this is the group I'm the most excited to watch, because it's the one group in which I truly have no idea what will happen. Mexico are the favorites (and the "hosts"), but have their weakest team in years. Venezuela are the underdogs but consistently overachieve in the Copa América. Ecuador and Jamaica are low-key probably the two most talented teams in the group but don't have an illustrious history at the Copa América. There isn't a single result of any matches in this group that could surprise me, but in the end, I'm choosing to favor history over talent. I've seen Mexico manage to advance in too many continental tournaments to predict even a relatively weak Mexico side to dip out in the group stage, and I think a cohesive Venezuela side in good form has a chance to surprise some folks in this tournament, as they so often do.
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