Brazil must improve on their drab Copa America opener against Costa Rica and put themselves in position for a knockout place when they take on Paraguay in their second Group D match.

Considered one of the world’s preeminent football powerhouses, Brazil have been down on their luck the last few years. They have been eliminated in the quarterfinals at four of the last five World Cup tournaments, have just one Copa America title in the last five editions of the competition, and sit an incomprehensible sixth in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings for the current cycle.

Amidst hopes of a rebound, the Selecao began this tournament with a scoreless draw against Costa Rica, which featured multiple dubious refereeing decisions but also lacked creativity and inspiration from the second-favorites.

Paraguay sit bottom of the group after an opening match defeat to Colombia, which saw them fail to fight back from an early 2-0 deficit, with Julio Enciso’s goal not quite enough.

Brazil vs. Paraguay prediction, odds

• Moneyline lean: Brazil (-300)
• Score prediction: Brazil 2-1 Paraguay

Brazil were poor against Costa Rica, but attacking volume has generally not been an issue for them over the past few months, so in the end, it’s not terribly worrying to see them go one disappointing performance.

The CONMEBOL giants are in a difficult place right now, but it would be unfathomable for them to fail to win each of their first two group games before even taking on Colombia. Yet, the risk does remain, and the moneyline value just doesn’t quite exist in this game.

Brazil vs. Paraguay match facts

• Date: Friday, Jun. 28, 2024
• Kickoff Time: 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT)
• Location: Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas, NV)
• Referee: Piero Maza Gomez
• Last meeting: Brazil 4-0 Paraguay (Feb. 1, 2022 | World Cup qualifying)

Brazil vs. Paraguay best bet

• Pick: Both teams to score — Yes
• Odds: +120 (BetMGM)

As mentioned earlier, a one-off uninspiring performance from Brazil in the attack isn’t concerning. In recent matches, they’ve also scored three against Spain, a defensively-adept England, put three on Mexico and scored against Colombia.

The issue for Brazil over the last few months is their defending. They coughed up two to Mexico, three to Spain, and saw both Venezuela and Bolivia score against them in World Cup qualifying last September.

Paraguay haven’t scored many goals of late, but it’s not for a lack of trying. They scored against Colombia in their Copa America opener, put up 19 shots against Chile in a recent 3-0 friendly defeat, forced Pedro Gallese to make four saves in a 0-0 draw with Peru and out-shot Colombia in a 1-0 friendly loss all within their last four games. Brazil could see themselves breached here.

Brazil vs. Paraguay prop bet

• Pick: Brazil over 6.5 total corners
• Odds: +100 (BetMGM)

Brazil can get very vertical, especially when desperate, like they were in recent draws with the U.S. and Costa Rica, where they put up nine corners in each game. If they get in another Copa America slugfest, they could end up with a solid total in this match.

Brazil vs. Paraguay live stream, TV channel

Brazil’s second match at the 2024 Copa America will be televised in the United States on FS1. There is also a Spanish-language broadcast on both TUDN and Univision. All three channels will be available to stream on Fubo, who are offering a FREE trial for new users.

In Canada, the match will be televised and streamed by English-language rights holder TSN, and also televised and streamed in French on RDS 2.

The entire 2024 Copa America will be televised in the United Kingdom on Premier Sports 1, with streaming on their platform, Premier Sports Player.