Let's take a little look at how my predictions went.
| A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Jamaica | USA | Colombia |
| Canada | Mexico | Uruguay | Brazil |
| Chile | Ecuador | Panama | Costa Rica |
| Peru | Venezuela | Bolivia | Paraguay |
Group Results:
| A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Venezuela | Uruguay | Colombia |
| Canada | Ecuador | Panama | Brazil |
| Chile | Mexico | USA | Costa Rica |
| Peru | Jamaica | Bolivia | Paraguay |
So, two groups 100% accurate, one group 100% wrong, and in the final group I got one of the qualifiers correct, but in the wrong place.
Five out of the eight to qualify were correct, four of them in the correct position! I'll take 62.5% for teams I generally don't pay attention to outside appearances at the World Cup.
I obviously got over excited about Jamaica's pre-tournament form and could have weighted that a little lower, but other than that I do think it is a surprise that neither Mexico nor USA got out of the groups. As joint hosts for the next World Cup USA in particular are going to be doing some serious work to look at why a team with so many players in quality leagues appears to have gone backwards.
In the 24 games played so far there have been 53 goals. Three matches ended 0-0 and four matches 1-0.
Argentina are now unbeaten in 11 consecutive Copa América matches stretching back to the third place play off game in 2019. The last match they lost was the sem-final with Brazil in 2019. The one draw in this 11 match run was with Chile in the first game of the 2021 group stage and that match-up was a repeat of the 3rd place play off from the 2019 tournament.
so, on to the Quarter-Finals (Times are for my UK timezone)
| 5th July | 6th July | 7th July | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2am | Argentina v Ecuador | Venezuela v Canada | Uruguay v Brazil |
| 11pm | Colombia v Panama |
So, onto predictions. I think I'll go with the obvious ones here:
Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil.
Of those I think Uruguay has the best opportunity for an 'upset', though how much of an upset it'd be for a team that won three from three in the group, scored nine, and only conceded one to beat the team who came second in their group, scored five, and conceded two. Though when we consider recent history, of the 12 times the teams have played each other in the last 21 years, Brazil have won seven times, Uruguay once - the last match they played - and the rest were draws.
Colombia v Panama may be a tight game with both teams having a similar record in the group.
text by stuartcturnbull art by CONMEBOL & altered by stuartcturnbull