Copa America Group Stage Matchday 1: Recap

Written by Gurleen Kaur

Published on June 30, 2024

Copa America kicked off on June 20, 2024 with Argentina versus Canada. In each of the Group Stages (3) there are eight matches per matchday. The first matchday was from June 20 to June 24, 2024. Some of these matches certain national teams won by a large margin while others lost and some even tied. 

The first match was held on June 20, 2024 at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia between Argentina and Canada. The current top players in Argentina are Lionel Messi & Angel Di Maria. The current top players in Canada are Alphonso Davies & Jonathan David.

Argentina had won this match. The first goal was scored at 49’ minutes with the assist from Alexis Mac Allister and scored by Julian Alvarez. The second goal was scored at the 88’ minute with an assist from Lionel Messi and scored by Lautaro Martinez. The game ended with Argentina 2 & Canada 0.

The second match was held on June 21, 2024 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This was the Peru versus Chile match. Peru’s top players are Gianluca Lapadula & Pedro Gallese. For Chile their top players are Claudio Bravo & Igor Lichnovsky. This match ended in a draw with neither team scoring a goal.

The third day had two matches. The first match was held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. It was between Ecuador versus Venezuela at 6:00 PM. Jeremy Sarmiento & Moises Caicedo are Ecuador’s top rated players. On the other hand, Rafael Romo & Salomon Rondon are Venezuela’s top players. The score was Ecuador 1 & Venezuela 2. Ecuador scored at the 40’ minute by Jeremy Sarmiento. At the 64’ minute Venezuela scored their first goal with an assist from Salomon Rondon and a goal scored by Jhonder Cadiz.

The second goal occurred exactly ten minutes after. Venezuela once again scored at the 74’ minute with goal scorer Eduard Bello. Venezuela took home the victory in this match. The second match was between Mexico & Jamaica at 9:00 PM in NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. The top rated players for Mexico are Gerardo Arteaga and Julian Quinones, Jamaica’s top players are Jahmali Waite and Michail Antonio. Mexico scored in the 69’ minute with an assist by Luis Romo and goal scored by Gerardo Artega.

On the fourth day, there were two matches. The first between USA and Bolivia at 6:00 p.m. USA’s top rated players are Christian Pulisic and Folarian Balogun, Bolivia has Guillermo Viscarra and Luis Haquin. The match ended with USA 2 and Bolivia 0. The first USA goal was scored three minutes into the game by Christian Pullisic with an assist by Timothy Weah. The second goal was scored at the 44’ minute mark by Folarian Balogun and assisted by Christain Pullisic. The second match kicked off at 9:00 PM between Uruguay & Panama. Uruguay scored 3 goals & Panama scored only 1. Uruguay scored first at the 16 minute mark with an assist by Matias Vina & goal by Maximiliano Araujo. Their second goal was at the 85’ minute scored by Darwin Nunez. Their last goal was at 91 minutes with an assist by Nicolas De La Cruz and scored by Matias Vina. Panama scored at the 94 minute with an assist by Freddy Gondola & a goal scored by Micheal Amir Murillo however it was not enough for them to win.

The last day of matchday 1 of group stage we once again had two matches, the first one at 6:00 pm and second one at 9:00 pm. The first match was between Columbia & Paraguay and ended with Columbia winning. Looking at Columbia James Rodriguez & Richard Rios are their top rated players. Paraguay’s top rated players are Julio Enciso & Alex Arce. Columbia took the victory for this match. Their first goal was scored at the 32 minute mark with an assist from James Rodriguez and goal by Daniel Munoz.

The second goal was exactly ten minutes later at 42 minutes with another assist by James Rodriguez & goal by Jerfferson Lerma. Paraguay did score at the 69’ minute mark however were not able to score again to catch up to Columbia. The last match of matchday 1 was between Brazil and Costa Rica. It was bizarre not seeing Neymar Jr play however he hasn’t played since last year especially due to personal issues in his life that became public. Brazil still does have top players such as Rodyrygo & Alisson Becker who are great footballers themselves. Costa Rica has Patrick Sequeira & Jeyland Mitchell. This match ended in a tie. Both teams fought for a victory but ended in a tie. 

These first five days were a testimony & the start to another major tournament for these national teams and players. They say how you begin a journey can determine your future success rate in the end. However they also say, you can bring yourself back up and reach the top even if your starting isn’t perfect. In terms of standing currently Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay & Columbia are in the lead. The matches are going to continue with Matchday 2 Group Stage starting June 25 and ending on June 28, 2024. Once again whoever gets the most points based on how calculations are computed will be in the lead. 

Keep an eye on your favorite teams and teams you have hope in to see who will be victorious in the end!

 

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