Copa America 2024: Best Bets & Parlay | June 28

The Copa America rolls on toward the knockout stage with Group D getting back on the pitch for Matchday 2 on Friday night. Brazil will be looking to bounce back against Paraguay after a shocking 0-0 draw, while Colombia will look to consolidate their position at the top of the group against Costa Rica. Funny enough, both favorites have the exact same soccer betting odds to win.

Odds provided by Betway.

Both Teams to Score - No (-182) | Betway

Costa Rica clearly planned to park the bus against Brazil, and they pretty much executed their plan to near perfection, keeping the Brazilians out of their net and earning a shocking 0-0 draw—but just barely.

Brazil threw 19 shots at the Costa Rican net, including four on target, and also put up nine corners and 1.71 xG. Colombia and their world class attacking unit aren’t quite as good Brazil’s group, but there is just no way Costa Rica gets away with this kind of performance twice in a row.

And speaking of that performance, the Costa Ricans offered absolutely nothing going forward, failing to find the target on just two shots and 0.03 xG. Costa Rica has also been shut out in four of their last six games against teams playing in this tournament, as well as in three of their last five against Colombia.

Their last four games have seen at least one side shutout, and same goes for nine of Colombia’s last 16. We’re on the same page as Ontario sportsbooks on this unfortunately, but anything below -200 odds was gonna be fine by us.

Brazil to Win (-286) | Betway

Paraguay has actually done decent against Brazil in this modern era of the fixture, going 5-3-2 against A Selecao from 2002-2016, but they haven’t won since then, a span that has included four straight losses in which Paraguay failed to score.

They put up a decent fight against Colombia, actually winning the xG battle and creating three big chances, but unfortunately they couldn’t find the back of the net. If they couldn’t do it against Los Cafeteros, they won’t do it against Brazil, who has arguably the best group of defenders in the tournament, even if they haven't shown it in the leadup to the tournament.

They allowed Costa Rica just 0.03 xG, and while Paraguay is a better unit, they will also be aggressive and go for this game a little more than Costa Rica did, which will allow Brazil some joy of their own on the other end.

Brazil will also be rearing for a bounce back performance after that 0-0 draw, which is probably the most shocking result of the tournament so far. We don’t love -286 odds, but if you want a successful parlay, sometimes you have to take what the sports betting sites give you.

Rodrygo Anytime Scorer (+140) | Betway

If there was anyone that was likely to score against Costa Rica, it was Rodrygo, who threw five shots on goal, put up 0.42 xG (second-most on the team), and got into some really good central areas in the attacking zones. 

He also scored in back-to-back matches leading into the tournament, so he’s in good form as well. Not to mention, +140 odds for a player of Rodrygo’s caliber to score is nothing to scoff at.