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Uruguay is a legit contender to take home the Copa America. They are in fantastic form in World Cup qualifying. They have won this tournament 15-times, and they have a roster stacked with talent. On average, their talent is about the same as the USA’s but they have a higher top end and lower bottom end. In other words, they have some players who might not make the USA roster, but they also have 4 super stars – e.g. Christian Pulisic quality or better. It’s often times these true super stars that make the difference at the very highest level, which is why we’ve put Uruguay ahead of the USA in our Power Rankings. Our match with Uruguay is easily one of the two best group stage games in this tournament – the other being Brazil v. Colombia which we’ll cover in our Group D preview.

As we noted above, they have 4 true super stars. They are Darwin Nunez – Liverpool (F), Federico Valverde – Real Madrid (M), Jose Maria Gimenez – Atletico Madrid (D), and Ronald Araujo – Barcelona (D). That means they have talent in all areas of the field.

Valverde is the pick of the bunch though. He’s by far the most valuable midfielder in this tournament with a transfer market value of about $130 million. Valuations like that are usually reserved for strikers and Paul Pogba.  He’s a well-rounded midfielder, who had 9 assists in La Liga but also recovered the ball 4x per game. Sometimes he will go unnoticed because he does a little bit of everything, but when you look back at his performance it’s impressive.

It’s been a generation (in soccer terms) since Uruguay won a Copa America. Gone are the days of Cavani, Forlan, and Godin. Luis Suarez is still around, but not in the same type of critical role. They’ve been replaced by a new generation of talent, who like the USA’s Golden Generation, are entering the prime of their careers. Is this the tournament where Uruguay reclaims it’s spot on the global stage? 

This generation of USA players is supposed to be different. They are supposed to lift US Soccer to new global heights. We’ve been hearing about it for most of their professional careers. At the last World Cup in 2022, the core of this team was extremely young. The goal was to show growth, knowing that a truly deep run was unlikely. Now, the ore of this roster is entering the prime of their careers. It’s time to start proving they can lift this nation to new global heights. 

We’ve proven we’re the best team in CONCACAF, but what does that mean? Is that like being the MAC champion in NCAA Football? Or is it like being PAC-12 Champion – maybe not from the strongest conference but you’re a damn good team? We’ll start to find out in this tournament.

We genuinely have the most consistently strong roster we’ve ever had. All 11 of our starters in the Colombia match play in one of Europe’s Top 5 leagues, the first time that’s ever happened in our history. We also have a strong bench, with players with real quality coming on who can influence a game. It’s time to take on the best and measure ourselves against a new peer set. 

We’re going to cover a lot of the roster here, as we want fans to have the opportunity to properly get to know this team ahead of the tournament.

Christian Pulisic is the headline grabber for this team. He is coming off – in our view – the best season an American has ever had playing in Europe. He scored 12 with 8 assists for AC Milan, one of the very top teams in one of Europe’s very top leagues. Some of his goals were spectacular. The first touch on this goal is sick, and the pace, ball control, and balance to finish it off are elite. He struggled at Chelsea but has reestablished himself as one of the world’s best young wingers. 

Weston McKennie is another star. He was a stalwart for Juventus, also one of the very top teams in Italy. Still, he is unsettled as Juventus seems to want to move McKennie out to another team. He has a knack for goal, and we think he’s at his best doing three things – holding the ball up in midfield, making long passes that release teammates (case in point, his long ball to Sergino Dest that set up our World Cup goal against Iran), and making late runs in the box. Watch this finish and you’ll understand what we mean.

Tyler Adams is a beast in midfield. He is lightning quick, reads the game well, and just hunts the ball back with an intensity that few can match. BUT…he’s still returning from an extended period of injuries in recent years. Starting in the second half of the 22/23 Premier League season, he’s hardly played any club football. He’s also hardly played for the USA, but he looked just like his old self against Mexico in the Nations League Final. We need him at his best to compete with Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, and/or Argentina. Early reports are that he’s available for the Bolivia game, so hopefully he’s ready to play a full 90 by the Uruguay game.

In defense, we’ve traded one open question for another. Chris Richards has emerged as a reliable option to pair with Tim Ream in center defense, addressing a question we’ve had since Miles Robinson went down just before the 2022 World Cup. Unfortunately, Sergino Dest tore his ACL late in his season with PSV. He’d been in phenomenal form so it’s a big loss. Joe Scally, a 21-year-old defender who played well in Germany’s top division this year seems to have been handed the baton at Right Back. He defended well against Colombia and Brazil in our friendlies, but he’ll never offer what Dest could going forward. Antonee Robinson was Fulham’s player of the season at Left Back, and is one of the fastest players in this tournament. 

The other big question mark for this team is at center forward (often referred to as the #9 spot in soccer). Folarin Balogun defected from England’s national team to join the USA to much fanfare. He’s been solid, but not the revelation we’d all hoped for. Still, he’s only 22. We think his first touch passing ability differentiates him against the rest of our options at this spot. Josh Sargent offers a more physical option upfront, which is valuable especially when teams like Bolivia and Panama park the bus and defend with 9 men. Ricardo Pepi has been a super sub but is yet to convince us as a starter.

Last but not least, we have to cover our depth in midfield. In our view, Gio Reyna and Yunus Musah are both studs, and give us tactical flexibility. In games where we’ll dominate the ball, we want to see Reyna in there to unlock defenses with his vision and creativity. In games that will be played at high tempo and where we’ll be under pressure, we prefer to see Musah as those games suit him better. He was excellent in the World Cup 

This generation of USA player is full of potential. Do we finally start to realize that potential, or do we (at least temporarily) plateau? 

Panama will be by far the most familiar opponent for the USA in this group. Somehow we always find ourselves playing Panama in a Gold Cup group match, knockout match, or in World Cup Qualifying. Fans should be aware, Panama has been something of a bogey team for the USA in recent years. Although they lack the consistent quality players of the USA or Uruguay, they are extremely athletic and have given us tough games with some regularity. They will be fast, strong, and intense. They are dangerous on the counter. We’ll need to play well to beat them. Still, we lead the all-time series 12 wins to 4, with 4 draws. Our A team should beat theirs.

Michael Murillo is a strong left back playing for Marseille in France’s Ligue Un – one of Europe’s Top 5 Leagues. Watch out for a strike from distance. Ismael Diaz (F), Adalberto Carrasquilla (M), and Anibal Godoy (M) often find a way to play great against the USA. 

Can Panama’s team spirit, organization, and athleticism spring a surprise result on Uruguay or the USA? 

Almost all of Bolivia’s squad plays in Bolivia’s domestic league. There is not a lot of data on that league, but they do send a few teams to South America’s Copa Libertadores, that continent’s version of Champions League. This means that if they were truly great players, they would get scouted playing against Brazilian or Argentian teams. Their transfer values would be higher, etc. Basically what we’re saying is that even though we don’t have that much intel on Bolivia, we do feel reasonably confident in our scoring. They have the least valuable squad at Copa America, with only 1 player having a transfer value in excess of $1 million.

It’s difficult to find any individual players to get excited about on Bolivia, so we’ve chosen to highlight Goalkeeper Carlos Lampe. Expect him to be busy. He’ll need to play lights out for Bolivia to have a chance to advance.

Bolivia has a new manager, Antonio Decillo. According to reports out of the USA camp, he’s tried multiple formations during his short time in charge. Will he find the right formula for Boliva to advance out of the group stage for the first time in a generation? 

Obviously any match with the USA is must watch. We also think every match with Uruguay is must watch, so you can get to know their team and tendencies before the big one. 

That big one is our third and final group stage game. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that both teams could already be qualified for the knockout rounds before that match though. And since Group C is one where it’s not clear that you must finish first in order to avoid one particular opponent in the quarterfinals, both teams could rest key players. If not though, that will be the biggest competitive test for the USA since the Netherlands knocked us out of the last World Cup in the Round of 16.  

USA and Uruguay both handle Bolivia and Panama in their first two matches. We enter Matchday 3 of this group with the USA and Uruguay on 6 points, Panama and Bolivia on 0. USA and Uruguay both rest key players in the third group game. The USA’s aforementioned greater squad depth carries us to a victory. 9 points for the USA, a bold prediction indeed.