In 2024, the Americas will reunite, and it promises to be an incredible event. With CONMEBOL and CONCACAF teams competing to determine which is the best team in the Western Hemisphere, the Copa America is scheduled to return to the United States.

There will be no shortage of celebrity power in this tournament. Naturally, Lionel Messi and Argentina will take centre stage, and with good reason. After winning the field in Qatar in 2022, the renowned attacker will lead his team into this competition as not just the current champions but also the current world champions. Since then, Messi and Argentina have established themselves as the dominant team in world football.

But it’s not just Messi and company—Argentina will also need to overcome a series of challenges in order to win another Copa America. As always, Brazil is dominant, but teams like Uruguay and Colombia are getting better. Include the U.S. men’s national team, Mexico, Panama, and Jamaica as CONCACAF representatives. These teams have already been confirmed, and a few more are expected to compete.

14. Bolivia Bolivia has only won one match in the competition since 1997 and has lost the last three Copas in the group stage. La Verde’s World Cup qualifying campaign hasn’t given rise to optimism that the 2024 competition will be any better, either. They haven’t won any of their first six games, but they did surprise Peru in the November international break.

Apart from that outcome, they have played 11 games in 2023, winning one and drawing one, and they appear to be CONMEBOL’s punching bag to begin this cycle once more.

13. Panama ?Panama had a fantastic 2023 and after reaching the Gold Cup finals in the summer, they are now headed to the Copa America. They defeated the USMNT en route, despite the fact that that squad was made up entirely of reserves, and they gave Mexico everything they had in the championship game as well, losing 1-0.

Since then, Panama has won seven games and drawn one. Their last two outcomes? a 6-1 victory over Costa Rica in total to secure their place in the competition for the following summer.

Panama will be flying high, but as a team that has only participated in the Copa America once, the 2016 Centenario edition, this competition will present a significant challenge.

10. Paraguay Paraguay has advanced to the quarterfinals of the World Cup twice in a row, despite not having had the best of starts in World Cup qualifying. They have only won five of their six games thus far, drawing with Peru and Chile and defeating Bolivia.

With the exception of a 1-0 loss to Argentina in which they gave Messi and company everything they could handle, Paraguay hasn’t impressed in any of their games thus far. The Chilean result, in particular, will feel particularly good.

Although their star player, Miguel Almiron, has the ability to really alter games, Paraguay doesn’t seem to be capable of going far with their current lineup.

9. Chile Although this Chilean team’s golden generation isn’t as good as it once was, they have won the Copa America twice in the last ten years. Even at 34 years old, Alexis Sanchez is still active and far from his prime. At 36 years old, Arturo Vidal is still a member of the team. Claudio Bravo is forty, Gary Medel is thirty-six, Charles Aranguiz is thirty-four, and so on.

As Chile prepares to say goodbye to some of its heroes, a new generation is being welcomed, and it remains to be seen if they can bring the team anywhere close to the standards set by that illustrious group. In order to start World Cup qualifying, Chile has only five points from six games, so the answer is currently no.

7. MexicoAfter a disappointing group-stage exit in Qatar, Mexico is currently rebuilding, and this process has already seen its ups and downs. Though El Tri rebounded to win the Gold Cup against a weaker field, a defeat to the USMNT in the Nations League final soured the mood.

Some confidence was generated by victories over Ghana and Germany, but it was quickly dashed when Mexico needed every last second and a few fortunate breaks to edge past Honduras and qualify for the Copa America.

6. EcuadorThe attention surrounding Chelsea star Moises Caicedo as he prepares for his second Copa America will undoubtedly be high, but Ecuador’s team as a whole has looked strong to begin World Cup qualifying. To begin the campaign, La Tri has already defeated Uruguay, Bolivia, and Chile and drawn with Colombia and Venezuela. In their last nine games, they have only lost once, and that was a close 1-0 loss to Argentina that was resolved by an incredible Messi free kick.

Ecuador has advanced to the quarterfinals in two of the previous three Copas, and given their recent performance, there will be optimism that they can do even better this time.

5. Colombia It’s hard to believe that ten years will have passed since James Rodriguez wowed the world in Brazil 2014 when the Copa America gets underway.

Naturally, Rodriguez remains active, leading the team as a seasoned 32-year-old. However, Colombia has a new wave of rising stars, including Yaser Asprilla, Jhon Duran, Luis Diaz, and Luis Sinisterra, who are all making waves in England. In November, Diaz stood out as the star of the show. Only a few weeks after his father was abducted, the Liverpool player stunned Brazil with two goals.

With the addition of seasoned players like Yerry Mina, Wilmar Barrios, Rafael Santos Borre, Juan Cuadrado, and Davinson Sanchez, your team has the right kind of

4. The United States For the young players on the USMNT who are quickly rising to prominence, the Copa America will be a huge test. At the World Cup, Christian Pulisic and company left their mark, emerging from their group and losing to the Netherlands in the round of 16. The Copa America represents the team’s next great opportunity to change the perception of American football, though they have discussed doing so.

More than at any other point in the team’s history, there is a wealth of talent there, but if they hope to go far on home ground, they will have to demonstrate that they can compete with some of the greatest players in the world.

3. Brazil Before Neymar got hurt, Brazil might have been a strong contender for first place. Following it? Well, given their current performance, they’ll have a tough summer ahead of them.

Brazil’s hopes will be severely damaged as a result of the forward’s catastrophic injury, which at best casts him into doubt for next summer. Of course, the Selecao still has a tonne of other talented attackers, as they usually do, but nobody compares to Neymar, really?

That’s been clear from the beginning of World Cup qualifying. Losses to Uruguay, Colombia, and Argentina in a row have demonstrated that the other CONMEBOL powers might currently be in the lead. Brazil will be hurt especially by the loss to Argentina because it was their first-ever home defeat in a qualifying match.

2. Uruguay The Darwin Nunez spectacle continues! Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani were one of the most potent strike duos in the game for years, and it appears that Uruguay has ready-made replacements on the rise. Nunez is one, of course, as he’s starting to establish himself for the team and the nation.

Uruguay is tearing through CONMEBOL qualifying, and the Liverpool star scored in a 2-0 victory over Argentina before adding a brace against Bolivia during the November break. Right now, Uruguay leads the table with 13 points after six games, with only Argentina having more points than them.

1. Argentina Argentina and Messi are the clear favourites as they attempt to retain their Copa America championship. They suffered their first loss since Saudi Arabia surprised them in the World Cup opener in November when they lost to Uruguay, but they recovered with a decisive victory in Brazil. Argentina is currently a goods train led by the best player the game has ever seen, despite that loss.

Having won back-to-back major trophies in the last three years, it’s safe to say that Argentina will not be slowing down as they aim for a repeat victory. The Copa America may be the last competition in which the world witnesses Messi at the top of his game.