Photo credit: (www.ca2016.com)

by Chris Asbrock

Finally, the wait is over. For soccer fans here in the United States and all around the world, the amazing summer of soccer is about to kick off with the Copa América Centenario tournament taking place in the United States for the first time ever. With the growth of soccer exploding stateside, this is the perfect tournament to help continue that growth. With the likes of Suarez, Messi, Chicharito and others competing for one of the most sought trophies in soccer, you can expect this to kick off an incredible summer for the world’s game.

The Copa América Centenario tournament is broken down into four groups with the top two teams moving on to the knockout stages. The games will be played in 10 cities (Seattle, Glendale, Chicago, Pasadena, Orlando, Philadelphia, Santa Clara, Foxborough, East Rutherford, Houston) with venues that will hold no less than 60,000 spectators. You can guarantee the stadiums will be filled for this historic event. Let’s take a look at the groups for the Copa América Centenario tournament.

Group A – United States (Host), Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay

This is one group that is loaded with talented teams, each with a chance to win the group or advance through to the knockout stages. The pressure is on the United States as the host nation to make it out of the group. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann set the expectation of nothing less than the semifinals for the United States. The USMNT kick off the tournament on Friday night against a Colombia team that most have picked to win the group. The Colombians are bringing a powerful team with them as they look to win the tournament for the first time since 2001.

James Rodriguez (Real Madrid) is coming off a UEFA Champions League title and headlines the Colombian roster. Top to bottom this is the toughest group of the four, as Costa Rica and Paraguay are looking to make some noise in the group stage as well. Paraguay is a two-time winner of the Copa America tournament and is looking to build off their fourth place finish in the tournament last year. Costa Rica is another team looking to build off a strong performance in their last major competition. Los Ticos had a fantastic and surprising run in the 2014 World Cup where they made it to the quarterfinals.

There will be no pushover in any of these matches, so making it out of the group will prove the teams to be battle tested. Even thought it will be a very tough task to make it out of the group but I think the veteran teams of the United States and Colombia do enough to make it through.

Group B – Brazil, Equador, Haiti, Peru

With the 2016 Summer Olympics taking place in Brazil later this year, Brazilian coach Dunga has indicated this Copa tournament is not the highest priority. Brazil is coming into this tournament without the likes of Neymar, Douglas Costa, David Luiz, Oscar, Thiago Silva and Kaka, just to name a few. With Brazil never winning Olympic gold, Neymar has committed to only playing in the Olympic games this year.

Even without the big names, Brazil still has a some incredible talent on their roster. The Brazilians will need to lean on that talent, as they figure to be battling Equador and Peru for the two spots making it to the knockout round. Equador has traditionally not had a solid showing in this tournament but will look to buck that trend with a veteran roster. Equador will look to be lead by English Premier League trio Jefferson Montero, Antonio Valencia and Enner Valencia.

Haiti doesn’t figure to make much noise in this group and will find it tough to garner any points. With Haiti set to struggle, that leaves Peru as the other team looking to make the knockout stage. Peru finished eighth in last summers Copa America tournament and will look to continue that momentum into this tournament. With this being the weakest group of the four, you can expect the Brazilians to make it through, along with the veteran-ladened Equador squad.

Group C – Mexico, Jamaica, Uruguay, Venezuela

This group features two teams that can very easily win this tournament and have fared very well in this competition. Mexico is one of the favorites and coach Juan Carlos Osorio has done a superb job leading El Tri since taking over. In their five matches under Osorio, Mexico has yet to concede a goal and will look to continue their fine run of form in this group. Even without stars such as Gio Dos Santos and Carlos Vela, Mexico brings a loaded squad featuring Chicharito Hernandez, who played out of his mind this year for Bayer Leverkusen.

The other beast of this group is Uruguay. Barcelona striker Luis Suarez leads the Uruguayan attack along with Edinson Cavani. The duo is set to put serious pressure on any defense they will face this summer. Defensively, Uruguay will be anchored down by Diego Godin at the center back position. Jamaica, who defeated the United States in the Gold Cup semifinals last year before falling to Mexico in the final, is hoping to steal a game from one of the big two and make their way into the knockout stages. The Reggae Boyz have a nice mix of players who play here in the States or across the pond. If Jamaica can snag a point from either Mexico or Uruguay, they could find themselves as one of the two who make it through.

Venezuela is clearly the weakest team in this group and will struggle to find any success. The Venezuelans had their best showing in tournament back in 2011, when they finished fourth. A run like that for them this year will be shocking and a complete opposite of the form they have been in recently. This group will be dominated by both Mexico and Uruguay with the group winner coming from the winner of the match between those two.

Group D – Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Panama

It is safe to say that Argentina is not messing around this year. They bring a roster that is loaded from top to bottom with Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero headlining the team. With Argentina failing to win a major tournament in over two decades, they bring the strongest lineup to the United States and look to avenge their finals loss last year in the Copa America final. Messi and company can exercise those demons right from the start when they take on defending champion Chile in their first match.

Chile, who defeated Argentina in PK’s last year, will look to defend their crown with the help of Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez. Chile brings a star-studded roster as well and will certainly be a force in this group. Bolivia, winners of the Copa America back in 1963, haven’t made much of a peep in this tournament since 1997, when they lost to Brazil in the final. Bolivia has struggled in CONMEBOL, winning only once in six matches. Sadly for Bolivia, their tournament can end just as quickly as is starts.

MLS duo Alberto Quintero and Blas Perez will lead Panama in a very tough group. With Bolivia looking to be the doormat of this group, is it possible for Panama to rise up and snag a point from either Chile or Argentina? If Panama, coming of a third place finish in the Gold Cup, can take a point from one of those two, they could be a surprise entrant into the knockout stages. Looking at the group, it will be extremely difficult for Panama to make it through. Look for Argentina to win the group with defending champions Chile, joining them.

With the loaded rosters and the notoriety of the Copa America tournament, this is a recipe for an incredible tournament. The United States is a fitting host for this incredible tournament and you can expect amazing crowds and games. Mexico and the United States will have a massive home field advantage in this tournament. With that being said, look for Mexico to ride the wave of support to the final and raise the Copa América Centenario trophy.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated has compiled a TV Guide for the Copa and Euro tournaments. You can check out that guide here and get your DVR set up for this amazing summer of soccer.

Chris Asbrock is a staff writer and analyst for FTI Sports and can be followed on Twitter  and