Copa America 2015 Groups Revealed, Predictions & Analysis: Colombia vs. Brazil

By David Salazar First Posted: Nov 25, 2014 12:39 PM EST

The groups for the 2015 Copa America have been announced and feature quite a few interesting matchups.

Here is a look at each group and how it might ultimately unravel:

Group A - Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Bolivia

It is tough to label any group in a 12-team tournament as "The Group of Death," but this is it if there ever was one.

Chile is the host nation and undeniably the top team in this group. With a golden generation that features Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal leading the charge, Chile is not only the favorite to win the group, but also one of the contenders to win the entire Copa.

Ecuador was another World Cup participant that failed to live up to expectations. But in a tournament such as this one and against teams that the nation is knowledgeable about, this could easily stack in Ecuador's favor.

The wild card here is Mexico. Will Miguel Herrera send his A-team to compete or will it be a B-team without its major star players? An A-team could contend in this tournament, especially if it plays the way it did in the World Cup.

The only team that is the primordial punching bag is Bolivia. Yet, so was Costa Rica in the World Cup's Group D and look how that turned out.

Predictions

Chile wins the group while Ecuador finishes second.

Group B - Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Jamaica

Here come the conspiracy theorists claiming that Lionel Messi and company are getting the easy gig so in order to help the superstar finally find international glory.

It is rather ridiculous, but who could blame them after Argentina's easy draws in the World Cup and this tournament? Paraguay and Jamaica stand no chance whatsoever while Uruguay will be playing without its best player in Luis Suarez. The Argentina-Uruguay match will be the most interesting of the game, but judging from Uruguay's World Cup games without Suarez, this should be a rather bland affair.

Predictions

Expect Argentina to pull away with nine points from this group while Uruguay settles for second.

Group C - Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela

This is arguably the most promising of the groups. Discard Peru right away, as the team is among the worst in CONMEBOL, if not the minnow of the confederation. Venezuela, on evidence from the World Cup qualifiers, is a team on the rise.

But the real showpiece here is Colombia against Brazil, which is looking to regain respectability after the World Cup debacle and has done just that since Dunga took over this summer. Colombia is a team at its peak that deserved better in Brazil if not for its controversial loss against ... BRAZIL!

This should certainly be a tremendous game and if the friendly in Florida a few weeks ago is any indication, it could get chippy and passionate. This might be the game of the tournament and should decide which side is going to make a deeper run in the tournament. Will it be James Rodriguez and his swashbuckling Colombians? Or will it be Neymar and the rebuilding (or rebuilt?) Brazilian side? This matchup should be a final in all honesty, but it will be just as thrilling in its current group stage iteration.