Colombia vs. Paraguay: Copa America 2024 Picks (Monday)
The 2024 Copa America continues Monday with two more First Round Group Stage matches at NRG Stadium in Houston, and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. In Group D action, Colombia and Paraguay meet in the Metroplex with the matchup beginning at 6 p.m. ET. At 9 p.m. ET, Brazil and Costa Rica wrap up the first round of group-stage matches in Southern California. Both matches can be viewed on streamed on FOX Sports 1.
Let’s continue to build that bankroll for the remainder of the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America tournament with our best fútbol bets for Monday, June 24. Here are our top 2024 Copa America picks and predictions for Colombia vs. Paraguay.
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Monday’s 2024 Copa America Best Bets: Colombia vs. Paraguay
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Colombia vs. Paraguay
Colombia kicks off Group D play against Paraguay at NRG Stadium in Houston. The Colombia side won the Copa America Tournament in 2001 as the host nation, topping Mexico. While Los Cafeteros has a very good history on the pitch, it hasn’t had a major title since winning the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2003. It did win the 3rd-place game in 2021 in the most recent installment, topping Peru 3-2 in a high-scoring affair. However, Colombia has a pretty good chance of winning this tournament, as it enters group play with the 4th-shortest odds to hoist the trophy.
It might surprise people that Paraguay won the 1979 Copa America tournament, and it also took home the championship in 1953. Paraguay ended up losing the 3rd-place game against Peru in 2015, and it was the tournament runner-up in 2011 in a 3-0 loss to Uruguay.
Colombia is 12th in the FIFA Rankings, while Paraguay checks in 58th.
Manager Nestor Lorenzo leads Colombia into its first major tournament. It steams in with plenty of confidence, posting a 1-0 win over Spain in March, and a 3-2 victory against Romania. They also ended up thumping the United States 5-1 in an international friendly, while rolling Bolivia by a 3-0 score. The knock on Colombia is that scoring can be a challenge. Striker Luis Diaz is a world-class player who earns big dollars with Liverpool in the English Premier League, however, he cannot do it alone. Jhon Arias is likely to be a secondary scoring option, and he had seven goals and 13 points in 30 games for Fluminense in Brazil, while James Rodriguez is a tertiary option from the flank. The 32-year-old captain still has plenty left in the tank.
Santiago Arias, Carlos Cuesta, Deiver Machado, and Yerry Mina will look to suffocate the opposition, helping David Ospina to keep his sheet clean.
Paraguay, nicknamed La Albirroja, posted a 1-0 win over Bolivia to gain a little confidence in a World Cup Qualifier on June 16 at Estadio Rommel Fernandez Gutierrez. That snapped an 0-2-2 skid in the four matches prior. Paraguay is also winless in the past four tries against Colombia, and it hasn’t won in a Copa America match since 2007, when Paraguay picked up a 5-0 win.
Both teams are tremendous defensively, and that’s the biggest takeaway. Colombia has Luis Diaz, and it will lean heavily upon him to score. Will he? We’ll see. Colombia should be able to do enough to get three points in this win, and Ospina should do the rest. But don’t expect much in the way of offense in this match.
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Daniel E. Dobish is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Daniel, check out his archive and follow him @danieledobish.