Ahead of the Copa América kicking off on Thursday, we look at the links to Ligue 1 across all four groups of the competition, starting with Group A
Pot 1: Argentina
The current Argentina squad, the defending champions of this competition, as well as winners of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, have just one current Ligue 1 Uber Eats player in their ranks, Olympique Lyonnais left back Nicolás Tagliafico. With nearly 60 caps for his country, he will be an integral part of La Albiceleste‘s hopes of repeating, and he’ll be joined by several others who will be familiar faces to fans of Ligue 1 Uber Eats. Chief among these of course is Lionel Messi, his country’s record appearance maker and goalscorer, who spent two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain.
He’ll also be joined by Leandro Paredes and Giovani Lo Celso, two midfielders who spent spells in the French capital as well. In attack, the inimitable Ángel Di María has also been selected, and the wily veteran, who spent seven seasons with PSG, will also be hoping to add to his haul of trophies for his country. Geronimo Rulli, who spent a season with Montpellier HSC, has also been selected, but is unlikely to feature. Defenders Leo Balerdi and Facundo Medina, both of whom have been included in recent squads, have unfortunately missed out.
Pot 2: Peru
With Miguel Trauco and Cristian Benavente having not made the cut for Jorge Fossati‘s squad, La Blanquirrioja will enter this tournament on good form, with three wins and a draw this season, but with no connections to Ligue 1.
Pot 3: Chile
Chile‘s veteran side has several players with connections to Ligue 1 as they hope to earn another title after wins in this competition in 2015 and 2016. Guillermo Maripán, of AS Monaco, and Gabriel Suazo, of Toulouse FC, lead the way, but they’ll be joined by several other players who have spent time in France’s top flight. Leading the way will be Alexis Sanchez, the veteran captain of La Roja hoping for yet another continental title a year on from his spell with Olympique de Marseille. He’ll be joined by another centurion for his country, Mauricio Isla, who spent 2015/16 on loan with l’OM.
Pot 4: Canada
Finally, Canada doesn’t have a rich history in connection with Ligue 1, but it does have a rich present in the form of Jonathan David. Still just 24, the LOSC Lille striker is only 3 goals away from becoming his country’s all-time leading scorer and will be a key element if Canada can hope to build on the progress they showed in reaching the 2022 World Cup.
