This article was written prior to Argentina’s victory on penalties over Ecuador, sealing their spot in the semifinals.
The Copa América group stage ended on Tuesday, July 2, as Brazil and Colombia played to a thrilling 1-1 tie at Levi’s Stadium, typically the home of the San Francisco 49ers.
The draw confirmed Colombia as the winner of Group D, while Brazil qualified for the next round as runners-up. The two South American heavyweights will join Argentina, Canada, Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay and Panama — but notably not the United States — in the quarterfinals.
Raphinha opened the scoring for Brazil in the 12th minute with a beautiful free kick that goalkeeper Camilo Vargas could only tip further into the top corner. After one Colombian equalizer was ruled out, Daniel Muñoz finally broke through for Colombia in first half stoppage time.
Colombian fans came out in droves, appearing to make up about 80% of the crowd. They were loud from before kickoff, cheering even the simple awarding of a goal kick to their side, and jeering the Brazilian team when it had possession.
The match was thrilling from start to finish, with Brazil needing a late goal to win the group, though Colombia came closest to finding a winner. Overall, the two teams have established themselves as the class of the tournament and will be favorites to beat Uruguay and Panama, respectively, to qualify for the semifinal. Colombia has still not lost a match since hiring manager Néstor Lorenzo in June 2022.
“[The Colombian national team] is in a great moment,” said Hector Remiro, in an interview conducted in Spanish.
Remiro traveled from New Jersey to see his native country in action, with fans coming from all over the United States to see two of the best international soccer teams put on a show.
“The feeling the Selección gives us is that we can achieve great things,” said Camelo—also in Spanish—who drove from Utah for the match.
According to the 49ers communications team, Tuesday’s was the largest soccer crowd in the history of Levi’s Stadium, with 70,000-plus fans turning the red-seat backdrop into a sea of yellow.
Paulo, a Brazilian fan from Los Angeles, said it was special to have the traditionally South American tournament in the United States, with large immigrant populations motivated to support their respective teams on the biggest stage.
The United States men’s national team, on the other hand, failed to sell out a single one of its three tournament matches, leaving an average of over 20,000 seats empty per match, according to ESPN.
The mediocre turnout was matched by mediocre play from the US, losing a pivotal match 2-1 to Panama after Timothy Weah received a red card in the first half for hitting an opponent in the face. Then, in a must-win match against Uruguay — the most formidable of the USMNT’s three group-stage opponents — Gregg Berhalter’s squad failed to rise to the occasion, losing 1-0 to end Berhalter’s tournament early and put his job in jeopardy.
Elsewhere, Venezuela has been the tournament’s surprise so far, winning all three of its games to win Group B. It will face Canada, the only CONCACAF nation to qualify for the quarterfinals. World Cup 2022 winner Argentina also cruised into the knockout stages, led by striker Lautaro Martinez’s tournament-leading four goals.
The quarterfinals started on July 4, while the semifinals and final will take place the following week across American cities.
Brazil were later knocked out in the quarterfinals by Uruguay, who Colombia will face in the semifinals on Wednesday.