368 players will converge on the 2024 Copa America this football off season. Some are global stars, others not so much. We’ve handpicked 4 players we think will be the competition’s breakout stars.
International tournament football, there’s nothing better. While the masses rightly love watching the best of the best, the Lionel Messi’s of the world, run out for the country, a small minority appreciate the stage these competitions offer to football’s next generation.
Football is healthiest when there is a balance of both: established stars who’ve reigned for years over the sport and fresher, younger faces chomping at the bit to break out onto the world stage. That’s when football feels at its best.
At the 2024 Copa America, plenty of this generation’s finest will converge on the USA. Among them, Lionel Messi, Angel Di Maria, Luiz Diaz and Christian Pulisic. But this old(ish) guard is set to be challenged by a new wave of footballers hunting ultimate glory at the tournament.
Who will the tournament’s breakout stars be? We’ve handpicked one from each group we believe will announce themselves to the global footballing world and cement their place as one of the game’s finest prospects.
Six breakout stars to watch at the 2024 Copa America
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Group A
Teams: Argentina, Peru, Chile and Canada
Breakout star: Jonathan David (Canada)
Contender: Facundo Buonanotte (Argentina)
There are some in European footballing circles familiar with the name Jonathan David. For good reason. In 2020-21 he was part of a rare LOSC Lille that broke PSG’s stranglehold on the Ligue 1 title, scoring 13 goals for Christoph Galtier’s league winners.
Since that season, his first in France, the 24-year-old has scored 54 goals in 101 Ligue 1 matches (accurate at the time of writing). Across the last three seasons in French football, only Kylian Mbappe (81) and Wissam Ben Yedder (55) have more goals than Lille’s talismanic Canadian, leaving many wondering why a bigger European side hasn’t snapped him up, especially considering the lack of quality goal scorers available.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, David moved to Canada at six and has been touted as one of the nation’s future stars since he was 15. A capable scorer with both feet, David’s threat isn’t limited to when he’s ghosting in the penalty box; he possesses rapid speed, quick feet capable of escaping defenders and an ability to create for others through his on-and-off ball movement and deft, often intelligent, passes.
In essence, he’s shaping as a potential full-package striker capable of threatening sides in multiple ways. At the 2024 Copa America, he will want to rectify a disappointing 2022 World Cup campaign, in which he failed to score during three appearances, though that campaign is hardly a scar on his already impressive resume.
If there’s one thing we’ve learnt over the years it’s that big transfers tend to follow big international tournaments. James Rodriguez, for example, joined Real Madrid after bending the 2014 World Cup to his will. Could a similar move be on the cards for David if he can replicate his Lille goalscoring feats for Canada?
Group B
Teams: Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela and Jamaica
Breakout star: Santiago Gimenez (Mexico)
Contender: Kendry Paez (Ecuador)
Another striker many in European footballing circles are all too familiar with, Santiago Gimenez has been one of the hottest prospects for much of the last 18 months. A core component of Arne Slot’s 2022-23 Dutch title-winning Feyenoord side, Gimenez is a multi-dimensional striker who’s as impressive off the ball as he is on it.
In the 2023-24 season, the Mexican’s goalscoring has been impressive. He’s found the net 21 times in 25 Eredivisie games and scored twice in four Champions League games.
Do not let these figures fool you into believing the Mexican is a fox-in-the-box. Gimenez is a fantastic goalscorer, able to find the net with either foot and his head, but his game isn’t limited to his penalty box raids. A capable presser, as all Slot’s men are, the 22-year-old can beat opponents on the dribble or through a delicate pass to a teammate.
It’s no surprise Gimenez is admired by many top European sides. For Mexico, he missed selection for the 2022 World Cup but is a different beast compared to where he was in the few months prior to Qatar.
With a favourable group, there is every chance Gimenez takes the 2024 Copa America by the horns and establishes himself as a striker prospect simply too good for Europe’s top sides to ignore.
Group C
Teams: USA, Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia
Breakout star: Folarin Balogun (USA)
Contenders: Ricardo Pepi & Gio Reyna (both USA)
A product of Arsenal’s academy, it wasn’t until a loan move to Reims in France during the 2022-23 season that Folarin Balogun announced himself to European football. In that campaign, made infamous by Reims’ young manager Will Still, Balogun found the net 21 times. Only Kylian Mbappe, Alexandre Lacazette and Jonathan David managed more Ligue 1 goals that season.
A move to Monaco, where found the net just five times in 25 league games, has seen the American striker’s career plateau. Balogun is yet to rediscover the Reims form that made him so highly demanded by many clubs and has often made headlines for the wrong reason in 2023-24.
Like most modern forwards, Balogun is strong in possession, comfortable dropping deep to help his team build up, a serviceable presser and a more than adequate finisher with both feet. Confidence will likely be low given his misfortune at Monaco but his ability remains high.
Competition is strong for the USA’s striker role, with Balogun not helped by his four-game goalless run stretching back to October 2023. However, national team coach Gregg Berhalter is an admirer of his talents.
“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached at running behind the backline and you need guys picking up on his runs and you need guys brave enough to play the ball,” Berhalter said. If he can harness those talents at the 2024 Copa America, Balogun will remind the world, and himself, of his potential.
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Group D
Teams: Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay and Costa Rica
Breakout star: Endrick (Brazil)
Contenders: Manfred Ugalde (Costa Rica), Jhon Duran (Colombia)
Few footballers have had as much fanfare about them in their teenage years as Brazil’s Endrick has. At 16, Real Madrid paid a whooping sum to secure his services. At 17, he’s scoring against England at Wembley and Spain at the Santiago Bernabeu, confirming what everyone in world football knows: Endrick’s a certified future star.
Already a two-time Brazilian league champion, his 2023 saw him score 11 times, behind only Ronaldo Nazario for the most goals in a single Brazilian league season by an under-18 player.
Voted by The Guardian as one of the 60 best young footballers in the world, it appears there’s no limit to the Brazilian forward’s potential. While he’s unlikely to start for Brazil at the 2024 Copa America, appearances from the bench will provide the world with a proper glimpse of the Brazilian baller many expect to take the mantle of the world’s best player sooner rather than later.
At the moment, his career is diminished to small social media clips, YouTube compilations and articles. At the upcoming Copa America, with more eyes on him than ever, the world may take a step back and realise Endrick isn’t just good in bursts; he’s good all the time.
