Lionel Messi and Argentina won the Copa America in 2021 for the first time in his career and for the first time as a country in 28 years. They then cemented their status as the best team in the world by winning the 2022 Qatar World Cup and are expected to make a deep run in the 2024 Copa America.

How will the defending champions and the G.O.A.T. handle the pressure to win again? Here are our Argentina odds and best bets for the 2024 Copa America:

Argentina sits atop the odds board for 2024 Copa America futures odds, which is hard to argue given their recent international success.

Brazil is close behind in odds coming off a second-place finish in the 2021 Copa America and with a number of high-profile players, including two Champions League winners, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, in attack.

Uruguay sits alone in third in odds before a steep drop-off to a tier of contenders that includes Mexico, Colombia, USA and Ecuador.

The USA earned a 1-1 draw with Brazil on Wednesday to bounce back from a 5-1 loss against Colombia, while Ecuador is an interesting sleeper pick because of its young and talented squad. 

This is one of two closely-related bets that could work as hedges against one another (more on that in a moment).

The Argentinians left no doubt about their quality at either of their last two international competitions. Messi might be older and in the last few years of his career, but he’s surrounded by players with immense quality in all three levels of the squad. They also won 12 of 13 matches since the World Cup Final, with the lone outlier being an 0-2 loss to Uruguay.

The defending champions are -300 to win their group and are on the much easier side of the bracket. They wouldn’t have to face either Brazil or Uruguay until the final and would likely only need to beat the likes of Mexico and Ecuador to reach that point.

Remember the second of two hedge bets? Betting on Argentina to finish in second would ensure that bettors take home a profit as long as the champs are able to handle their business and get back to the final.

Argentina’s group includes Peru, Chile and Canada. They could also face any one of Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela or Jamaica in the knockout, but all of those teams pale in comparison to the might of the reigning champions.

Hedging means that one of two bets is guaranteed to lose, and it’s possible that both do. But it’s also impossible to argue with Argentina’s recent dominance, and everything is shaping up for them to have a fairly manageable run to the Final. 

Messi won the Golden Boot at the 2021 Copa America with four goals. His five assists helped him take the tiebreaker from Colombia’s Luis Diaz, who also found the back of the net four times.

Messi is a mainstay in Argentina’s attack and is also their penalty taker, which ensures that he’ll be able to add “cheap” goals to his tally if any are available. 

Looking at Argentina’s quality of opponent, and since we expect them to make the final, it’s also likely that his team will score a lot of goals and get to play as many matches as possible, which will only help his chances.

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