Copa America Group C fixtures and predictions: USA to fall short of top spot

With the Copa America Group C fixtures released, we have made some predictions over how we think the group will look. The group could be fairly tightly-contested, with both Uruguay and USA likely to be battling it out for top spot, while both Panama and Bolivia also offer potential banana skins for the group favourites.

Copa America Group C fixtures

Copa America Group C fixtures and predictions

Group Winners: Uruguay

The highest FIFA-ranked team in the group, Uruguay, are the favourites to win this group, and it is easy to see why. They have by far the richest history in the competition out of the four teams, having won it a joint-high of 15 teams, with the latest of those coming in 2011.

Uruguay also boast a far superior H2H record against Panama and Bolivia, although their record against the USA is fairly equal (W2 D3 L2). The pair are among the favourites to win the whole competition, so we can expect another tense affair in the group stage.

Runners Up: USA

USA will run Uruguay very close in the group stage, but we think that they will just miss out on first place and end up clinching second spot. There is not much between the two sides at all based on their H2H record, while USA are only ranked one place below Uruguay in the FIFA World Rankings (12th).

However, what could give USA an edge is their home advantage, and with the semi-finals being their best-ever finish in the competition (in 1995 and 2016), they will hope to go one better. Nonetheless, the USA should be confident of qualifying out of the group ahead of both Panama and Bolivia at least.

Third Place (eliminated): Panama

With the top two in the group so strong, it is unlikely that Panama will make it into the knockout stages, and so we think that they will be eliminated in third place. That is not to say that they will not put up a fight though, having been the earliest to qualify for the competition out of the CONCACAF teams along with the hosts USA.

Panama are ranked 41st in the world, but have only ever qualified for the Copa America once before, in 2016. They were eliminated at the group stage in that tournament, and we feel that history may repeat itself here.

To finish bottom – Bolivia

Even though they have won the Copa America before (way back in 1963) we think that this group will be too strong for Bolivia, and so we have predicted them to finish rock-bottom. They are currently ranked 85th in the World Rankings, far below the other nations in the group.

In terms of H2Hs, Uruguay have a far superior record against Bolivia, while Panama, who are likely to be the closest in quality in match-ups, have beaten them more often than not (P6 W2 L4).

Interestingly, Bolivia's H2H record against the USA is much closer (P8 W2 D4 L2), but with home advantage, they will likely blow the South Americans away.

Group C Winners – Potential quarter-final opponents

Should Uruguay win the group, they will face the runners up of Group D. Based purely on pre-tournament odds, that will most likely be Colombia. Uruguay have generally come out on top in overall H2Hs against the Coffee Growers, but have not won in any of the previous three meetings, which suggests that this may be a tight affair.

Still, with the firepower Marcelo Bielsa's side possess in the likes of Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez and Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde, we expect they would have too much for the Colombians, and so we can foresee them advancing through into the semi-finals if it all plays out as the bookies expect.