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The United States men's national team thrashed Costa Rica on Tuesday night in their second match of Group A earning them their first 3 points of the Copa America Centenario. Colombia squeaked by Paraguay in a very entertaining match in the night cap to clinch advancement to the quarterfinals.
The Group A standings look like this currently:
|
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
|
|
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
||
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
||
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
-1
|
1
|
||
|
4
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
-4
|
1
|
||
With the final group matches approaching on Saturday, the USA are in great position to earn a spot in the knockout stage. There is even a scenario that could see them win Group A, but it would take a lot. Here are all the scenarios that could possibly happen for the USA in the final group matches:
The USA can win Group A if: Colombia lose to Costa Rica and the USA beat Paraguay.
The USA can finish 2nd in Group A if: 1) The USA beat Paraguay. 2) The USA draw Paraguay and Costa Rica doesn't beat Colombia by 6 goals or more. If the USA and Colombia finish level on goal differential and goals scored, the USA would hold the tiebreaker on head-to-head results.
The USA will be knocked out if: 1) The USA lose to Paraguay. 2) The USA draw Paraguay and Costa Rica beat Colombia by 6 goals or more. -- Higher goal differential would advance. If goal differential is the same, the next tiebreaker is goals scored.