As Canada prepares for its Copa America debut against Argentina on June 20, head coach Mauro Biello is making final changes to the team’s roster. The preliminary roster announcement deadline is May 5, with the final roster deadline set for June 12. However, Biello will likely announce his team ahead of this final deadline.
Even with Canada’s best players on board, the sportsbooks listed on bestsportsbettingcanada.ca are not putting much hope on the team. Currently, they have odds of up to 100/1 to win the tournament outright - meaning their chances are minimal. In comparison, favourites like Argentina and Brazil currently stand with odds of 7/4 and 9/4, respectively.
According to Neil Roarty, gambling industry expert at Best Sports Betting Canada, some soccer betting sites have 1,300+ markets and offer live streaming of events. Fans can choose to bet on individual games or players on these Canadian sportsbetting sites to enjoy more promising odds. For example, Canada has odds of 5/2 to qualify from their group.
Bettors might find the odds change on or after May 5, when Biello will announce his provisional team lineup for the 2024 edition of Copa America. This announcement may not provide any indication of which players will take on Argentina in June. Unlike the final squad announcement, the provisional team list can consist of anywhere between 35 and 55 players. Given that final rosters consist of 23 players, more than half of the footballers featured in the provisional list may not make the final cut.
National teams normally reveal their final line-up teams a few days before the deadline. Although Canada has never participated in Copa - the world’s oldest soccer tournament - they did announce the squad for the 2022 World Cup a day ahead of the deadline. This same competition saw the US announce their team four days earlier than Canada.
The final 23 cannot be altered once announced. However, it is possible to swap out players who are injured. Replacement players can be selected from the preliminary list - players who were not featured on the initial list cannot be chosen. Injury swapping can be performed up to 24 hours before the match.
Ahead of the marquee match, the Canadian national team is set to participate in two friendly matches. They’ll play the Netherlands on June 6 and France on June 9. Biello will be required to plan his Copa team ahead of these games. That said, Biello is not obliged to announce his decision publicly.
No other team competing in Copa will perform in friendly matches earlier than June 6. In this case, if Biello does decide to announce the team as soon as his decision is made, Canada could be the first team in the competition to publicize their final lineup.
The final cut is expected to include many of the players involved in the recent victory over Trinidad in the Copa qualifier. Canada beat Trinidad 2-0 on March 23. Both goals were scored in the second half, the first by striker Cyle Larin and the second by left-winger Jacob Shaffelburg.
It is presumed that Larin and Shaffelburg will resume their positions in the upcoming match against Brazil. The midfielder Stephen Eustaquio will also likely be chosen, as will forward Jonathan David and left-back Alphonso Davies.
A high degree of uncertainty looms over certain positions. There has long been debate over which player should serve as the national team’s main goalkeeper.
Maxime Crepeau has long been considered the best keeper in Canada. In 2022, an injury put him out for a significant part of the 2022-23 season. During this time, he was replaced by Milan Borjan. Brojan is noted for his shot-stopping ability and is considered by some to be the better player.
Crepeau was in goals during the recent Trinidad match and performed well. Notably, he successfully prevented Trinidadian striker Levi Garcia from scoring in the 85th minute. However, Canadian soccer fans will have to wait until Biello’s announcement to find out if Crepeau played well enough to be considered for Copa.
There could also be a host of new players in the running for Copa inclusion. Since making his debut at 19 years old in 2022, Ismael Kone has become a mainstay of the Canadian national team. The midfielder was considered instrumental in the World Cup qualifiers.
Qualifying for Copa is a big feat for Canada and success in the competition could reestablish the country as a formidable soccer opponent. This is especially important following the team’s poor World Cup performance in 2022, which witnessed them losing all three of their group games.
Although Copa is a competition held in South America for South American teams, national teams from North America and Asia have competed since the 1990s. The competition is held once every four years and features all 10 CONMEBOL teams as standard.
Before, only two non-CONMEBOL teams were permitted to enter Copa, making it a competition of 12 teams. 2024 will be the first competition to accept 6 additional guest teams, taking the competitor count up to 16.
The other guest teams are Costa Rica, the United States, Panama, Mexico and Jamaica.
Costa Rica qualified on the same day as Canada after beating Honduras 3-1.
Canada almost competed in the Copa once before in 2001 following the team’s Gold Cup victory in 2000. However, CONMEBOL postponed the event due to security concerns in the host country of Columbia.
Initially, it had been announced that the competition would take place in 2002. In response to this, the Canadian team flew back home. Unfortunately, CONMEBOL shortened the postponement, and the competition started a few days later. Costa Rica took Canada’s place out of convenience.
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