Copa America 2024: Everything we know

The 2024 Copa America is the latest iteration of the quadrennial competition that usually sees the likes of Brazil and Argentina go head-to-head in South America for a prestigious trophy, while displaying the continent’s richness and depth of talent.

This time around, things are slightly different, with the United States hosting the tournament for the first time since 2016. The build-up has been marred by so many basic questions going unanswered, until now. The Athletic is on hand to explain what we know ahead of next year.

Required reading

When will the tournament be?

The 2024 Copa America kicks off with the opening match on Thursday, June 20 and it concludes 25 days later on Sunday, July 14.

Group A: Argentina, Peru, Chile, Canada or Trinidad & Tobago
Group B: Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Jamaica
Group C: United States, Uruguay, Panama, Bolivia
Group D: Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Costa Rica or Honduras

U.S.

AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, June 23
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, June 27
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri, July 1

Argentina

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, , June 20
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, June 25
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, June 29

Brazil

SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, June 24
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 28
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California, July 2

Which country is hosting it?

Perhaps surprisingly, the United States is the host country, despite the tournament typically being made up of South American sides and hosted on the continent.

The USMNT, however, is one of six teams from CONCACAF (the governing body for Central American, North American and Caribbean football) who qualified for the 16-team tournament via the 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League. Mexico, Jamaica and Panama have also qualified for the tournament. The final two spots from the region will be determined in March with the winner of games between Canada vs. Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica vs. Honduras earning spots.

Despite being hosts, they did not qualify automatically, unlike they did at the U.S.-hosted Copa America Centenario — a special edition in 2016 that marked 100 years of the tournament. That was also the first and only previous time a non-South American country hosted the tournament.

The other 10 sides will be the 10 represented by CONMEBOL (South American football’s governing body).

They are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.

*Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are in South America but are affiliated with CONCACAF.

Why is the U.S. hosting a tournament for South American teams?

From 1916 to 1975, Copa America was known as the Campeonato Sudamericano de Futbol (South American Football Championship) and is a tournament organized by CONMEBOL.

Why can North America’s most populous country host and play in that tournament, I hear you ask. And it’s a valid question. The answer is best broken down into a few parts.

Despite one of CONMEBOL’s member federations, Argentina, being World Cup holders, off-field governance in South America has caused problems. A myriad of political issues across the continent makes it a challenge to select a suitable host.

South America has the world champions, but competent Copa America hosts are not forthcoming (Photo: ANP via Getty Images)

The Copa America has been rotated across its 10 member federations since 1984 and it was identified that next year’s tournament would be in Ecuador. But, last November, they declined the option.

The U.S. and Peru were the two nations to express interest in replacing them and, in January, CONMEBOL announced that the U.S. would host it as part of the freshly signed strategic collaboration between them and CONCACAF.

The ability to host a major tournament at short notice and the responsibilities of co-hosting the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico were key considerations.

Fortunately, the U.S. is starting from a stronger base than most other countries as they have known for five years that they will be co-hosting the 2026 World Cup and have an array of large-capacity stadiums to choose from.

Has the U.S. competed in the tournament before?

Yes, they have experience of playing in, and hosting, Copa America.

They have competed in four editions: 1993, 1995, 2007 and 2016, hosting the latter and finishing fourth.

The involvement of guest countries has been a common theme of the last 30 years, with only 10 member nations making up CONMEBOL.

Mexico has been invited to participate the most, with 10 Copa America appearances under their belts, then Costa Rica (5), the U.S. (4), Jamaica and Japan (twice each), then Honduras, Haiti, Panama and Qatar (all once each).

In which cities will matches be played?

We were finally given a portion of the answer to this on Monday, Nov. 20, when the tournament officially announced that the opening game will take place in Atlanta, with the final in Miami.

On Monday, Dec. 4, CONMEBOL announced the rest of the host venues:

Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kansas
Exploria Stadium, Orlando, Florida
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
Q2 Stadium, Austin, Texas
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

When do tickets go on sale?

Tickets go on sale in “mid-January.” Fans can sign up to receive updates on ticket sale information when it becomes available at the official Copa America site.

How will the tournament work?

With the 16 teams split into four groups of four, the top two sides in each group will progress to the knockout stages, starting with the quarter-finals. Each group winner will face a runner-up. The four winners of those games will advance to the semi-finals, and the winners of the two semi-finals will meet in the final at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Sunday, July 14, 2024.

Ties are allowed in the group stage where the score after 90 minutes (plus stoppage time) will be final. In the knockout phase, matches drawn after 90 minutes will enter a 30-minute extra-time period. If the score remains tied after 30 minutes of extra time, a penalty shootout will decide the winning team.

Three of the last seven Copa America finals have been settled on penalties.

How does qualification work?

The six CONCACAF teams will have to earn their place; four have already done so.

The 2023-24 CONCACAF Nations League has reached the semi-final stage with two teams left to be confirmed.

Due to their ranking positions, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and the U.S. were given byes to the last eight where they were joined by Jamaica, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago.

The four quarter-final winners secured qualification to Copa America automatically. The four losing teams dropped into a play-in round which will follow the knockout format. The winners of the two play-off ties then qualify for Copa America.

The quarter-finals saw the US advance past Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico going through against Honduras and Panama beating Costa Rica.

Canada, however, fell to a surprise aggregate defeat on away goals to Jamaica meaning they now face a play-in game against Trinidad and Tobago, while Costa Rica and Honduras meet in the other meeting of losing quarter-finalists.

Those matches will be held in Texas in March next year with the winners qualifying for the tournament next summer.

What else is new to the 2024 tournament?

Say hello to Capitán, the official mascot of the 2024 Copa America. The red, white and blue (and oddly built) bird will represent the competition.

Capitán, la mascota de la CONMEBOL Copa América 2024™, es un águila que representa la fusión única entre la pasión sudamericana por el fútbol y la vibrante atmósfera estadounidense 😍

✍🏻: https://t.co/nofZjshTlS

Capitán, a mascote da CONMEBOL Copa América 2024™, é uma águia… pic.twitter.com/a1p1t98XUk

— CONMEBOL Copa América™️ (@CopaAmerica) December 8, 2023

CONMEBOL also unveiled the official match ball of the tournament. Puma is the official sponsor of the ball, a departure from Nike, who was used for ever edition of Copa America going back to 2004. The ball is called “Cumbre.”

What about the women’s competition?

There will be a new tournament, called the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, the inaugural 2024 version played from February 20-March 10 next year.

Twelve teams will contest the competition, with eight from CONCACAF and the top four from CONMEBOL invited to join them. Again, the United States will host it.

The two CONCACAF teams who will compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris (USWNT and Canada) qualify for the W Gold Cup, with the other six CONCACAF teams decided via the 2023 Road to CONCACAF W Gold Cup.

And the four guest CONMEBOL teams have already been chosen according to the 2022 Women’s Copa America results: champions Brazil, runner-up Colombia, plus Argentina and Paraguay, who finished third and fourth respectively.

Anything else?

Yes. The winners of the men’s Copa America tournament will face the winners of the 2024 European Championship in the 2025 CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions.

Intriguingly, it has also been reported that the two federations are organising a ‘final four’-type tournament with two clubs from each federation, qualifying via existing CONCACAF and CONMEBOL competitions.

That could see sides like Inter Miami, Los Angeles FC, Boca Juniors and Palmeiras facing off for the (unofficial) title ‘King of the Americas’.

The first such competition could be played in 2024, though probably in the latter stages of the calendar year.

Who are the most recent winners of the Copa America?

Argentina are the reigning Copa America champions – having won the tournament in 2021 before then going on to World Cup glory in Qatar at the 2022 World Cup.

Led by Lionel Messi, they beat Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America final thanks to a brilliant goal from Angel Di Maria, ending their 28-year wait for a major trophy.

As a result of winning Copa America, they faced European champions Italy in the 2022 Finalissima at Wembley and won 3-0; Lautaro Martinez, Di Maria and Paulo Dybala were the scorers.

Here are the teams that have won Copa America most:

Argentina – 15 (1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1991, 1993, 2021)
Uruguay – 15 (1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1935, 1942, 1956, 1959, 1967, 1983, 1987, 1995, 2011)
Brazil – 9 (1919, 1922, 1949, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007, 2019)
Paraguay – 2 (1953, 1979)
Chile – 2 (2015, 2016)
Peru – 2 (1939, 1975)
Bolivia – 1 (1963)
Colombia – 1 (2001)

(Top photo: Gustavo Ortiz/Jam Media/Getty Images)