An Introduction to Copa America Betting

The tournament in Chile will reveal to fans around the world what football is really about.
The Copa America is the most important sporting event within South America. This competition is followed by millions of passionate fans in a continent, where football is a religion, but it is also a popular one in Europe and all around the world. Copa gives you a chance to watch the most talented players of the world fighting for their own countries.

• Uruguay is the most successful nation
• Argentina favourite to win
• Chile stepped in to host the event

Though American gambling lawsPast Winners

Being the leading force in world football in the 1910s and 1920s, Uruguay won six out of the first ten editions of the tournament. From the next ten occasions Argentina succeeded seven times, and with 1949 a new period started when various teams captured the title and even Bolivia were able to win in 1963. Brazil launched their own era in 1989, winning five out of ten Copas since. The most successful team is Uruguay, the title defenders, who won the competition fifteen times. Argentina is just behind them with fourteen titles, while Brazil managed to win the Copa eight times.

Hosting

Originally Brazil would have hosted the 44th edition of the Copa, according to the rotation policy that gives the opportunity to every CONMEBOL (the South American Football Federation) members in alphabetical order. However, after the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 Football World Cup Brazil will also host the 2016 Olympic Games, and the national federation requested CONMEBOL to let them pass on this opportunity. Thus Chile swapped places with Brazil and the latter will host the 2019 tournament instead. There will be a special centenary edition next year in the United States as well, but that will not influence the hosting policy.

The Venues

Being a country associated with the Andes, you might think that a tournament held in Chile might feature stadiums built well above sea level. This is not true however, as half of the venues situated on the Pacific coast and the host city with the highest altitude is Rancagua, sitting 572 meters above sea level. The capital city, Santiago – on an altitude similar to Rancagua – provides two stadiums for the tournament with capacity of more than 47 thousand each. One of those is Estadio Nacional that will host the opening game between Chile and Ecuador, and later on the final as well.

The title defenders

Uruguay won the last edition of the Copa in 2011. That tournament was held in Argentina, but since the hosts didn’t make it to the last four, the mobile betting audience was stripped from the ultimate South American showdown between the two most successful nations in the history of the Copa. Uruguay made fun of Paraguay instead, beating a side 3-0 that reached the final playing five draws, winning their two playoff-encounters on penalties.

Uruguay accomplished the feature of securing the Copa in Argentina for the third time. They did so in the inaugural tournament in 1916 and after again in 1987. The best player of the last tournament was their hitman Luis Suarez, who was Liverpool’s asset then, while Uruguay’s most iconic footballer was the hugely popular Diego Forlan, who retired from international football recently. La Celeste is not amongst the top favourites this time, but if Suarez can manage to complete the tournament without biting anyone, they could be able to go all the way to the final.

The favourites

Argentina is always regarded as favourites to win the title before the actual edition of the Copa America, but now they don’t only have Lionel Messi who returned to his best recently, they are also using a system that suits the Barcelona superstar better. In the shirt of the Albiceleste, Messi wasn’t able to perform at the level he did at Barcelona for years, until Alejandro Sabella came in, who refurbished the team in a way to exploit Messi’s abilities the best possible way.

The number ten, who also wears the captain’s armband just like Diego Maradona did, guided his team to the World Cup final in Brazil last year, only to be defeated by Germany in overtime. Argentina was arguably the most complete side from South America in that tournament, and though Sabella left after the World Cup, they continue to play effective and exciting football with former Barcelona manager Gerardo Martino.

As South American national teams appeared in friendly games only since the World Cup ended, for those who bet on sports in the US, it is hard to determine their true values. However, our additional articles about the Copa America might help to discover the field completely, before the opening game between Chile and Ecuador kicks off in Santiago on the 11th of June.

Read more about how to bet on the Copa America here.

For an extensive betting guide to the Copa America click here.