The Canadian men’s soccer team takes on South America’s best at the Copa America | CBC Sports

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What a time for soccer fans. With the men’s European Championship underway in Germany and the Olympic tournaments in Paris just five weeks away, another big international event kicks off on Thursday night in Atlanta as Canada faces World Cup champion Argentina in the Copa America opener.

Here are a few key things to know about the Copa and what it means for Canada:

This is South America’s version of the European Championship.

It’s not as large, as deep or as widely celebrated as the 24-team Euro, which includes eight of the world’s top 10 teams. But the Copa features No. 1 ranked Argentina (the reigning Copa and World Cup champion) and No. 5 Brazil (winner of a record five World Cups) among its 16 entries. The other top South American countries in the tournament are 12th-ranked Colombia and No. 15 Uruguay, along with Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Paraguay and Bolivia (all ranked outside the top 30).

With the United States hosting this year, six teams from the CONCACAF confederation (North and Central America and the Caribbean) were invited to play. The top qualifiers from the region are the 11th-ranked United States and No. 15 Mexico. They’re joined by Canada, ranked 49th, and Panama, Costa Rica and Jamaica (all ranked between 45th and 55th).

The teams are divided into four groups of four for round-robin play in various U.S. cities, with the top two in each group advancing to the quarterfinals starting July 4 in Texas, Arizona and Las Vegas. The semifinals are July 9 and 10 in New Jersey and North Carolina, and the final takes place July 14 in Miami.

Lionel Messi is nearing the end.

In the 2021 Copa final, Messi captained Argentina to a 1-0 win over rival Brazil at famed Maracana Stadium in Rio, giving La Albiceleste their first South American title since 1993 and Messi the first senior international trophy of his career. The following year in Qatar, Messi led Argentina to its first World Cup title since Diego Maradona’s iconic Hand of God-assisted victory in 1986.

Now that Messi has silenced (at least some of) his Maradona-worshipping critics in Argentina, there’s speculation that the Copa could be the final international tournament for the almost-37-year-old superstar. But with the 2026 World Cup taking place mostly in the United States, and Messi still playing brilliantly for Inter Miami of U.S.-based Major League Soccer (he has 12 goals in 12 games this season) it seems like there’s a good chance he’ll stick around.

Brazil is trying to regain continental supremacy.

An Argentina-Brazil rematch is expected for the final. Messi’s team is the slight betting favourite to win the title over the Brazilians, who have fallen on tough times by their lofty standards. The Selecao‘s last World Cup title came more than two decades ago, in 2002, and they were eliminated in the quarterfinals in four of the five World Cups since then, including the last two.

Neymar, who last year overtook Pelé to become Brazil’s all-time leading men’s scorer, is out with a knee injury. But Brazil still has plenty of stars at the Copa, including Champions League MVP Vinicius Junior, his Real Madrid teammate Rodrygo and 17-year-old phenom Endrick, who already has three goals in six matches for the senior national team and is about to join the others on Real Madrid.

This is a big test for Canada.

Qualifying for the Copa for the first time gave the Canadian men’s team a valuable opportunity to face quality opponents from outside their region in a high-pressure environment as they prepare for the 2026 World Cup, which Canada is co-hosting with the U.S. and Mexico. But they nearly blew it, losing a home-and-home qualifier against Jamaica in November after taking a two-goal lead into the final half.

The Canadians ducked into the Copa by defeating 98th-ranked Trinidad and Tobago in a last-chance play-in game in March. They later replaced interim head coach Mauro Biello with Jesse Marsch, a 50-year-old American who has guided teams in the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga and Major League Soccer. Biello filled the role after John Herdman left for Toronto FC after guiding Canada to its first World Cup appearance in 36 years.

Marsch’s results since taking over last month have been mixed. His team got outclassed 4-0 by the seventh-ranked Netherlands on June 7 before battling No. 2 France to a scoreless draw in another away friendly three days later.

For his first tournament in charge of Canada, Marsch named 23-year-old Alphonso Davies as team captain. The Bayern Munich star replaces Atiba Hutchinson, who retired last year with a Canadian men’s record 104 appearances. Vice captain Stephen Eustaquio (FC Porto), Jonathan David (Lille) and Tajon Buchanan (Inter Milan) are also among the holdovers from the 2022 World Cup, where Canada lost all three of its matches and scored just one goal. Marsch was forced to make a late change on Sunday, replacing injured winger Junior Hoilett with Joel Waterman. Read more about the Canadian roster here. 

After their date with Messi’s Argentina on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET in Atlanta, Canada will play 32nd-ranked Peru on June 25 at 6 p.m. ET in Kansas City and No. 42 Chile on June 29 at 8 p.m. ET in Orlando.

As the lowest-ranked team in Group A, Canada is not expected to advance. The betting markets give them only about a 30 per cent chance of placing in the top two, putting them well behind Argentina (above 90 per cent) and Chile (above 50 per cent) but slightly ahead of Peru (about 27 per cent). “We know it’s a big challenge,” Marsch said. Read more about Canada’s outlook for the Copa in this story by CBC News’ Jamie Strashin.