Brazil stage the 46th edition of the Copa America – the South American Championship.

Chile come into the tournament looking to become only the second team ever to win three consecutive titles, following on from Argentina in the 1940s.

And Chile coach Reinaldo Rueda realises they have the chance to make history.

“I’ve put a lot of emphasis on the fact the Chile were champions in 2015 and 2016. Three years have passed and now we have to write our own history.

“With champions syndrome, the holders get eliminated in the first phase because they are still walking a meter above the ground.

“If we start believing that we are the champions and nobody can get near us, we will suffer the same fate as Brazil, Italy, Spain and Germany in the last four World Cups,” the Colombian added.

Hosts Brazil are the favourites to seal the title and coach Tite knows they are under pressure to perform.

“We must play very well, and we must win, we must be champions. At a minimum, we must reach the final,” said Tite.

“And, before that, have a good performance. I say it because we culturally live in a country that lives football.”

Lionel Messi leads Argentina once again, as he looks for a maiden international tournament.

“I want to end my career having won something with the national team, or at least try to do so as many times as possible,” admitted the 31-year-old superstar.

BoyleSports provide the odds throughout the preview and we spoke with Lawrence Lyons for their assessment before the tournament gets underway.

“Even though Brazil let favourite backers down in the World Cup, they have won all four of the Copa Americas they have hosted so rather unsurprisingly they are favourites to do it again.

“From the others, Uruguay look to have a strong squad yet again and are a standout bet in terms of popularity so far, so we have made them 11/2 from 8/1 to beat the hosts to the title.”

We now run through every team with their odds, star men, one to watch and summary from our Football Insider Graeme Bailey.

GROUP A

BRAZIL 
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 11/10
Coach: Tite
Star Player: Alisson
One to watch: Richarlison
Graeme’s view: Brazil on home soil was not a great recipe for success in the 2014 World Cup, but they have picked a very strong squad and they will take some beating here and I would be shocked if Dani Alves is not lifting this trophy

BOLIVIA
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 50/1
Coach: Eduardo Villegas
Star Player: Marcelo Martins
One to watch: Luis Haquin
Graeme’s view: One, if not the, weakest of all the South Americans and they could very well end this campaign pointless

VENEZUELA
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 33/1
Coach: Rafael Dudamel
Star Player: Salomon Rondon
One to watch: Yeferson Soteldo
Graeme’s view: Despite missing a number of players with injury, Venezuela are a squad on the up and they have a chance of getting through this group – could surprise a few people

PERU
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 20/1
Coach: Ricardo Gareca
Star Player: Jefferson Farfan
One to watch: Luis Abram
Graeme’s view: Peru have a chance of progression and they have real experience with the likes of Guerrero and Farfan, but whether the quality is really there – I am not so sure

GROUP B

ARGENTINA
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 7/2
Coach: Lionel Scaloni
Star Player: Lionel Messi
One to watch: Giovani Lo Celso
Graeme’s view: Not convinced by Argentina, especially in defence – but they have some obvious quality going forward but it is blending everyone around Messi, not sure I would be looking at them as potential winners – but if Messi performs then they clearly will be in the mix

COLOMBIA
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 8/1
Coach: Carlos Queiroz
Star Player: James Rodriguez
One to watch: Luis Diaz
Graeme’s view: Colombia are ones to watch here, they have a nice blend and their defence could be the best in South America – contenders for sure

PARAGUAY
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 40/1
Coach: Eduardo Berizzo
Star Player: Miguel Almiron
One to watch: Matias Rojas
Graeme’s view: Not a great Paraguay team and I don’t see them making the knockout stages, I think they will struggle – barring the game with Qatar

QATAR
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 100/1
Coach: Felix Sanchez Bas
Star Player: Akram Afif
One to watch: Tarek Salman
Graeme’s view: Like many onlookers I am not sure what we see with Qatar here, they have a couple of players with European experience, but this tournament is surely no more than a building block towards the World Cup in 2022

GROUP C

URUGUAY
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 11/2
Coach: Oscar Tabarez
Star Player: Luis Suarez
One to watch: Maxi Gomez
Graeme’s view: Uruguay may rely on Cavani and Suarez, but this squad is becoming loaded with quality and they could very well be Brazil’s biggest challengers for the trophy

ECUADOR
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 40/1
Coach: Hernan Dario Gomez
Star Player: Antonio Valencia
One to watch: Jefferson Intriago
Graeme’s view: Ecuador are not the force they were and they really need to see some young players coming through, this squad is not great – they have a chance of making the knockout stage, but that’s it

JAPAN
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 66/1
Coach: Hajime Moriyasu
Star Player: Shinji Okazaki
One to watch: Tatsuya Ito
Graeme’s view: Japan have named a virtual Under-23 squad and are blooding some young talent, with a splattering of experience – be interesting to see how they fare but they will be lucky to get out the group

CHILE
Tournament odds from BoyleSports – 12/1
Coach: Reinaldo Rueda
Star Player: Alexis Sanchez
One to watch: Paulo Diaz
Graeme’s view: Five players with 100 caps, Chile want a third straight title and they can never be under-estimated but they look to have a tough task on their hands