Brazil vs Colombia preview, team news, tickets & prediction

A South American classic awaits when Brazil take on Colombia in their final group game of the 2024 Copa America. 

Two of the world’s top 15 national teams go face-to-face when 5th-ranked Brazil go up against Colombia in a battle for supremacy of Group D. 

These teams are very familiar with each other and one of their most notable clashes in recent history saw Neymar suffer a fractured vertebra after an innocuous tackle from Juan Camilo Zuniga at the 2014 World Cup quarterfinal. 

Brazil would crash out to Germany in that calamitous 7-1 thrashing in the semifinal and this heightened the intensity and aggressiveness of games between Colombia and Brazil.

Their most recent encounter in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers was a rare 2-1 victory for Colombia that ended a seven-game winless streak against Brazil. 

The Seleção are fifth in the World Rankings but the last couple of years have been shambolic with a quarterfinal exit at the 2022 World Cup followed by massive upheaval in 2023. There were defeats to Morocco and Senegal in the first three friendly matches of the year while the World Cup qualification campaign began with two wins from two. 

The October international window will not be looked back on with fond memories following a 1-1 draw with Venezuela and a 2-0 defeat in Uruguay to end their long unbeaten streak in qualifiers.

Things got even worse a month later with devastating losses to both Colombia and Argentina. The latter, which took place at the Maracana Stadium, proved the nation's first-ever defeat at home in a World Cup qualification match. 

It ultimately cost Fernando Diniz his caretaker job as Dorival Junior took charge in January 2024. They since got off to a good start as Endrick's first international goal decided a friendly against England before another thrilling game against Spain that ended 3-3.

The nine-time Copa America winners are looking to reach a third consecutive final in the continental tournament and they must be comfortable with not being one of the top favourites.

Nevertheless, they possess the quality and know-how to surpass all expectations and get the job done this summer. Brazil would love a fairytale triumph after their eternal rivals, Argentina, won each of the last two major tournaments.

Brazil are also up against Costa Rica and Paraguay in their group and the final game against Colombia is a chance to sound a warning to all their rivals before the knockout stage begins. A typical victory over Colombia would also act as revenge for their recent defeat in the qualifiers and give the players some confidence. 

Elsewhere, Colombia have fantastic prospects going into this tournament after failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. An unbeaten start to the 2026 qualifying campaign has left them in third place in a 10-team CONMEBOL table with 12 points from their first six fixtures.

Colombia, ranked 12th in the world, is currently on a 21-match unbeaten run with the most notable result being when they condemned Brazil to a first-ever defeat to Colombia in World Cup qualifying. 

There were three consecutive friendly wins early in 2023 including a 2-0 victory over Germany at the Veltins-Arena, that proved a perfect buildup to their World Cup qualifying series which started with a 1-nil victory over Venezuela. 

Three successive draws followed but a four-minute brace from Luis Diaz completed a comeback in the tie at home to Brazil. Colombia travelled to Paraguay up next and the victory there ensured they remained behind only Argentina and Uruguay in a 10-team group. 

The start to 2024 could not have gone any better as a 1-0 victory over Spain in a friendly was followed up with another against Romania. There is another pre-tournament friendly against the USA in June and they will look to bring momentum into proceedings against Paraguay. 

Colombia have reached the quarterfinal at least in five consecutive Copas America and they came third in two of the last three editions. There is enough pedigree and confidence to push them to another deep run into this tournament and they should well be there or thereabouts come July. 

They must take the group fixture against Brazil as an opportunity to finish ahead of them on the group standings as well as register a fear factor going into the knockout stage. 

Match tickets

This Copa America matchday 3 showdown is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 2 July 2024 with kick-off scheduled for 2 AM UK time. Match tickets are available for sale on the websites of both national federations as well as the Copa America organizers so you can hurry to purchase yours.

Levi's Stadium in California is the venue and it is a fitting arena with over 60,000 people expected to be in attendance. This cracking encounter will attract not just the fans of both teams but neutrals as well, meaning the stadium is very likely to be sold out. 

Those still looking for Brazil vs Colombia tickets may be lucky to find one on a ticket resale site. 

Team news

Neymar is out of action for the tournament due to an ACL injury and Brazil were also without the likes of Alisson Becker, Matheus Cunha, Casemiro, Joao Pedro, Ederson, Eder Militao, Gabriel Martinelli and Marquinhos for the most recent international window in March. 

It remains to be seen how many of their stars can be available by the end of the season but we are likely to see many of their key players return. 

Colombia have a relatively light injury list at the time of writing and they will hope players can stay fit for potentially the most important game of their group stage campaign. 

Line-ups

Vinicius Junior will look to become a talismanic figure for Brazil in the absence of Neymar and the onus is on him to step up to the plate and lead this next generation. The 23-year-old is pivotal for Real Madrid and he needs to bring that level of influence into the Brazil camp this summer. 

Brazil: Alisson; Emerson, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Lodi; Casemiro, Guimaraes, Paqueta; Rodrygo, Richarlison, Vinicius

Luis Diaz is a key man for Colombia and the Liverpool star will be instrumental to their fortunes having finished as joint-top scorer at the 2021 Copa America.

Colombia: Vargas; Munoz, Cuesta, Sanchez, Mojica; Lerma, Castano; Arias, Rodriguez, Diaz; Borre

Prediction

Historically, Colombia have won just four games in 35 meetings with Brazil and lost a whopping 21 matches but they would love another giant-killing at the Copa America. 

The winners of this game would almost certainly win the group so it is all set to be decided within these 90 minutes. Brazil may be too much for their opponents given the stakes involved. 
Brazil 2-1 Colombia

Cover Credits - Copa America