Grab your burgers, hot dogs, and root beers because, for the second time in its history, Copa America is being held in the United States.
But what is this Copa America, I hear you ask?
It's only the longest-running continental football competition, one that has played host to some of the greatest legends of the game including Lionel Messi, Pele, Diego Maradona, and Neymar.
This summer, across 12 American cities and 14 stadiums, South America's finest — including Brazil, Uruguay, and a Messi-led Argentina — will compete again to take the title of Champions of South America (and Others).
To round out the numbers, the United States, Mexico, and a few other North and Central American countries have been invited to join the fun, too.
Here, The Athletic has broken down everything you need to know about the tournament, from the favorites and the format to its 108-year history filled with brilliance and drama.
The last time it was held Stateside was in 2016 for Copa America Centenario, the tournament's 100th anniversary.
Though that tournament ended badly for Messi, losing out on a first senior international trophy in a penalty shootout to Chile, it provided the iconic moment where he endeared himself to the people of Argentina by breaking down in tears on the pitch.
He's since added a World Cup and a Copa America to his trophy cabinet, so don't bet on those theatrics again.
This year, the final will be held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, home of the Miami Dolphins. It will be one of 14 stadiums used for the tournament across 12 cities: East Rutherford, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta, Kansas City, Arlington, Houston, Austin, Glendale, Las Vegas, Inglewood and Santa Clara.
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Other than 2016 and this year, Copa America has only ever been held in South America.
In 1984, CONMEBOL, the football governing body in South America, began rotating the right to host the tournament among its members, with the first rotation culminating in 2007 in Venezuela.
The second rotation began in 2011, but hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics proved too much for Brazil, which was scheduled to host Copa America in 2015. Chile eventually hosted that tournament, and Brazil took the responsibility in 2019 and 2021.
Argentina has hosted more editions than any other country (nine times), most recently in 2011. Paraguay, Colombia, and Venezuela are the only CONMEBOL nations that have not hosted it more than once.
This summer, the 16-team tournament will begin with four groups of four teams. After each team has played their group opposition once, the top two will advance.
During the group phase, teams earn three points for a win, one for a draw, and zero if they lose. If you're anti-draw, we advise you to wait until the knockout stage, where there must be a winner. If the scores are tied after 90 minutes, extra time is used, and if the scores are still level after two 15-minute halves, the match will be decided using penalty kicks.
The knockout stage consists of three rounds: the quarter-finals, semifinal, and final, one fewer round than the European Championship. In the quarter-final stage, teams that finished top of their group will play against a team that finished second. If a team progresses past that stage, they will play the semifinal. If they're successful there, the July 14 final awaits.
If this is your first Copa America, count yourself lucky. It is not usually this way.
In 2021, there were only 10 participants, meaning two five-team groups, each playing four group games. The top four from each group made it to the knockout stage, thus eliminating only two teams in the group phase. This year is only the second time there have been 16 competing nations, with 12 being the most common since guest nations were introduced in 1993.
More on those later.
Group A: Argentina, Peru, Chile, Canada
Group B: Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Jamaica
Group C: USMNT, Uruguay, Panama, Bolivia
Group D: Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Costa Rica
Uruguay are international football, perennial overachiever, consistently performing well in tournaments despite a population of only around 3.5 million.
They won the tournament's first edition on their way to collecting six of the first nine and 15 in total, a record they share with Argentina.
Like Uruguay, Argentina had most of its success before the tournament changed its name from the South American Football Championship in 1975, winning 12 of their 15 trophies before 1960. In 2021, however, they got their hands on the trophy again, inspired by Messi, who was seven when Argentina previously won the competition in 1993.
Over the past three decades, Brazil has been the dominant team in South America, collecting five of their nine trophies since ending a 40-year drought in 1989. They were back-to-back winners in 1997, 1999, 2004, and 2007, off the back of a golden generation of Brazilian talent, including Ballon d'Or winners Ronaldo (not the superstar from Portugal), Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, and Kaka.
Chile had a golden spell in the mid-2010s, winning back-to-back trophies in 2015 and 2016, the only two wins in their history. Paraguay and Peru have also won it a couple of times, and Bolivia and Colombia have one each, both winning as host nations.
Ecuador and Venezuela are the only CONMEBOL nations that have never won the trophy. They have come relatively close, finishing fourth in the 1993 and 2011 editions but have never reached the final.
However, Venezuela has written history in a less desirable way. They hold the dishonor of not winning a single match in 12 consecutive participations from 1975 to 2004 and are the only South American team to rank outside the top 10 of the tournament's all-time rankings, surpassed by Mexico, a frequent guest nation.
Unlike UEFA, Europe's governing body, which has 55 member nations and holds qualifiers for their 32-team equivalent, CONMEBOL is FIFAs smallest confederation with 10 teams. As a result, all South American teams automatically qualify for the tournament, and guest nations are usually called from around the world to make up the numbers.
For the 1993 tournament, CONMEBOL decided to add a rotating cast of guest nations to the core of 10 teams. This allowed for an added knockout round, two extra games, higher viewing figures, and more money.
While it has yet to happen, the inclusion of guest nations opens the possibility that a team outside of South America could win the continent's premier sports tournament. Historically, the most likely to upset the apple cart has been Mexico, who have reached the final twice. The USMNT have done pretty well themselves, reaching the semifinals in 1995 and 2016.
Yes, Messi will be in action. Despite completing his football bucket list in 2022 by winning the World Cup in Qatar a year after winning Copa America, the Inter Miami star has committed to playing in his seventh this year.
Not that he needs any more accolades, but when Messi steps foot in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta for Argentina's first group game on June 20, he will break the record for the leading number of appearances in the tournament. The match will be his 35th, surpassing the total set by Chile goalkeeper Sergio Livingstone. If he scores five while he is there, he'll also break the goalscoring record of 17, jointly held by his compatriots Norberto Mendez and Brazils Zizinho. Both records have stood since 1953.
Brazil is without Neymar, so Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr will take the mantle as the team's attacking leader. But do not fear: Alisson, Gabriel Martinelli, and Bruno Guimaraes will be among those to represent the Premier League for the five-time World Cup winners.
Liverpool duo Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez should star for Colombia and Uruguay and Moises Caicedo will headline for Ecuador.
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Messi is among several stars based in the United States who will feature at Copa America this summer, though some squads are yet to be announced at the time of writing.
Orlando City stalwart Pedro Gallese is expected to star for Peru in goal, and 2023 MLS All-Star midfielder Jose Martinez will likely perform his role in the midfield engine room for Venezuela as he does for the Philadelphia Union.
While Luis Suarez, Messis Miami's team-mate, was not named in the squad for Uruguay's 4-0 pre-tournament thrashing of Mexico, Cristian Olivera (LAFC) and Orlando City pair Cesar Araujo and Facundo Torres are expected to fly the MLS flag for Uruguay at the tournament.
With all those MLS players being called up for international duty this summer, surely MLS Commissioner Don Garber will pause league play, right?
Right?
We can't afford (to shut the league down for Copa America), Garber stated in his league address on the eve of the 2023 MLS Cup final. If we have to shut the league down (and) lose games, it impacts our players, it impacts our partners, it impacts our fans, it impacts everything that MLS has to deliver for all of our stakeholders. That being said, we've got to manage through that process, be clever and creative, and figure out how to reconfigure the schedule with all these different events to make it work.
Nothing says serving your fans like forcing teams to field sides without their best players. For example, Miami will play the Columbus Crew, the MLS Cup holders, on July 20, one day before Copa America kicks off. For that game, Miami will be without Messi.
Almost every South American superstar has won Copa America, except for two of the greatest ever: Maradona and Pele.
Maradona appeared in three Copa Americas (1979, 1987, and 1989) but never got over the line. His best performance came in 1987 on home soil, where he scored three goals in four matches, including a brace in the second group game against Ecuador. That was only enough to get to the semifinal stage, losing 1-0 against eventual winners Uruguay.
Pele gave himself even less chance, appearing in just one Copa America in 1958. As a 19-year-old, he finished as top scorer with eight goals and won the best player award, but Brazil finished second to Argentina in a seven-team round-robin. Imagine if he'd have played as many as Messi.
Let's not go there.
Fox Sports holds the English-language rights in the United States and will broadcast every game from the tournament on its Fox, FS1 and FS2 channels.
The USMNTs opening group games against Bolivia and Panama will be broadcast on Fox at 6 pm ET, while their third group fixture against Uruguay will be on FS1. Every Brazil and Argentina game is on FS1, while Mexicos group ties will be split between Fox and FS1.
The UK broadcaster is yet to be confirmed, but BBC held the rights in 2021.
Argentina are on an international tournament winning streak and they are favorites to win again this summer in the United States. Despite being without Neymar, Brazil is Argentina's most obvious competitor, and there will be little surprise if they add to their nine Copa America trophies this year.
Uruguay is slightly behind the elite duo but has the talent to go all the way. Outside of those three, Colombia is the pick of the dark horses. The United States has quality and could reach the semifinals if a favorable knockout route presents itself, but the final might be a game too far for Gregg Berhalters young squad.
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This summer on The Athletic: Tournaments, transfers and tours
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Men’s national team, Mexico Men’s national team, Canada, Brazil, Jamaica, Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Soccer, Copa America
A beginner’s guide to Copa America 2024: Groups, format, location and dates
https://arab.news/vj4ht
A beginner’s guide to Copa America 2024: Groups, format, location and dates
- While Luis Suarez, Messis Miami's team-mate, was not named in the squad for Uruguay's 4-0 pre-tournament thrashing of Mexico
- Despite being without Neymar, Brazil is Argentina's most obvious competitor
Kante snatches a point for Al-Ittihad during frantic finish at Al-Qadsiah
- Home side left to rue earlier misses as both teams score in second-half added time to earn a share of the points
- Al-Itthad, who have drawn their last 3 games, go 7 points clear at top of Saudi Pro League but Al-Hilal could close the gap to 4 on Friday
Al-Ittihad rescued a point with a 1-1 draw in their Saudi Pro League clash at Al-Qadsiah on Thursday, thanks to a 96th-minute strike from N’Golo Kante that canceled out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opening goal, which came just five minutes earlier.
The late equalizer from the former Chelsea and Leicester City midfielder moved Al-Ittihad seven points clear at the top of the table but Al-Hilal have a chance to close the gap to four when they travel to Al-Fayha on Friday. The league leaders have drawn their last three games.
Al-Qadsiah, who would have moved into second place with a victory, remain in third, level on points with Al-Hilal. And they should have won, because the visitors were second-best for the majority of the game in Dammam.
The hosts dominated the first half to the extent that the visitors from Jeddah would surely have been relieved if they had found themselves only a goal down at the break, yet somehow they were still level at the end of the half.
Al-Qadsiah’s forwards certainly had their chances but were unable to make them count. Mexican marksman Julian Quinones has been in fine form in the league but could not find a way past Predrag Rajkovic in goal, or the woodwork. It was not only the forwards who missed good chances; defender Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat had a shot cleared off the line.
The home side were almost made to pay for their misses when Karim Benzema found Fawaz Al-Saqour unmarked in the area, only for the ball to bounce off his knee with the goal at his mercy.
As chances came and went there was always a possibility that Al-Ittihad might snatch a goal. Houssem Aouar, for example, was on target early in the second half with a shot from outside the area, forcing a save from Koen Casteels.
Still Al-Qadsiah continued to push forward until finally, in the first minute of added time, they got their just rewards. Nahitan Nandez sent in a low cross into the center of the area from the right and Aubameyang was waiting to guide the ball into the bottom corner of the net with a first-time shot.
That looked to be that but while Al-Ittihad might not be at their best right now, their fighting spirit is still very much in evidence. They grabbed their late equalizer when Benzema crossed from the left and found Kante, unmarked inside the six-yard box, who stabbed home to gift his team what had looked to be an unlikely point.
Man Utd draw in Spain in Europa League last 16 as Spurs beaten
- “I felt until the penalty we had control of the game and then I think the penalty changed a little bit the momentum,” Amorim told TNT Sports
- Rangers recorded an impressive 3-1 win away to a Fenerbahce team coached by Jose Mourinho
PARIS: Manchester United drew 1-1 away to Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday, while Tottenham suffered a 1-0 loss away to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
Joshua Zirkzee drilled in from just outside the area to give United the lead on 57 minutes in San Sebastian but Mikel Oyarzabal levelled from the spot after Bruno Fernandes was punished for a handball.
Zirkzee cut a distraught figure after missing the decisive penalty in last week’s FA Cup shootout loss to Fulham and has endured a testing first season at United, whose only remaining hope of silverware is in the Europa League.
He scored for the first time in Europe this term, unleashing a sharp low drive from 20 yards after being teed up by Alejandro Garnacho’s inviting pass.
But Ruben Amorim’s side could not hold on to their advantage as Fernandes handled at a corner, with Oyarzabal confidently converting his spot-kick.
Andre Onana made two excellent saves to keep United level as Real Sociedad pressed for a winner, leaving the tie evenly poised ahead of next week’s second leg.
“I felt until the penalty we had control of the game and then I think the penalty changed a little bit the momentum,” Amorim told TNT Sports.
“I felt our team in the last 30 minutes were really, really tired,” he added.
“We take this stage to Old Trafford... it’s going to be a different game, the pressure is going to be on us in that stadium and we have to be ready.”
Lucas Bergvall’s first-half own goal condemned Spurs to defeat in the Netherlands, and it could have been worse for Ange Postecoglou’s side were it not for two fine saves from Guglielmo Vicario.
Rangers recorded an impressive 3-1 win away to a Fenerbahce team coached by Jose Mourinho.
Cyriel Dessers put Rangers ahead early on in Istanbul before Alexander Djiku hauled Fenerbahce level.
Vaclav Cerny restored the lead for the Scots before striking again nine minutes from time to place Rangers in firm control under interim boss Barry Ferguson.
Lyon also took a big stride toward the quarter-finals with a 3-1 victory at Romanians FCSB.
Paulo Fonseca fought back tears as his players celebrated Nicolas Tagliafico’s opener with him, a day after the Portuguese coach was banned from the dugout until November by French football officials after an angry altercation with a referee.
Malick Fofana won the game for Lyon with two late goals after Alexandru Baluta had equalized for FCSB.
Roma host Athletic Bilbao later on Thursday, while Ajax are at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. Lazio travel to Viktoria Plzen for the first leg of their tie.
Women’s tennis players now are eligible for paid maternity leave funded by Saudi Arabia’s PIF
- More than 300 players are eligible for the fund, which is retroactive to Jan. 1. The WTA would not disclose how much money is involved
- The WTA says 25 moms are active on tour; one, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, won a title last month after returning from maternity leave in October
DUBAI: Pregnant players on the women’s tennis tour now can receive 12 months of paid maternity leave, and those who become parents via partner pregnancy, surrogacy or adoption can get two months off with pay, under a program sponsored by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and announced Thursday by the WTA.
“Independent contractors and self-employed individuals don’t typically have these kinds of maternity benefits provided and available to them. They have to go out and sort of figure out those benefits for themselves,” WTA CEO Portia Archer said. “This is really sort of novel and groundbreaking.”
More than 300 players are eligible for the fund, which is retroactive to Jan. 1. The WTA would not disclose how much money is involved.
The program — which the WTA touted as “the first time in women’s sports history that comprehensive maternity benefits are available to independent, self-employed athletes” — also provides grants for fertility treatments, including egg freezing and IVF.
It’s part of a wider trend: As women’s sports rise, there is an emphasis on meeting maternity and parental needs.
How many mothers are on the women’s tennis tour now?
The WTA says 25 moms are active on tour; one, Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, won a title last month after returning from maternity leave in October.
More and more pros in tennis have returned to action after having children, including past No. 1-ranked players and Grand Slam title winners such as Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka.
Azarenka — a member of the WTA Players’ Council, which Archer acknowledged played a key role in pushing for this fund — thinks these benefits will encourage lower-ranked or lower-earning athletes to take as much time off as they feel they need after becoming a parent, rather than worrying about losing out on income while not entering tournaments.
“That’s certainly one of the aims of the program: to provide the financial resources, the flexibility, the support, so that these athletes, regardless of where they’re ranked, but particularly those who earn less, will have that agency ... to decide when and how they want to start their families,” Archer said.
And, Azarenka said, this could lead some players to decide to become parents before retiring from the sport for good.
“Every feedback we’ve heard from players who are mothers — or who are not mothers — is like, ‘Wow, this is an incredible opportunity for us,’” said 2012-13 Australian Open champion Azarenka, whose son, Leo, is 8. “I believe it’s really going to change the conversation in sports. But going beyond sports, it’s a global conversation, and I’m happy that we’re (part of it).”
Other steps the WTA has taken in recent years to benefit players include steering more women into coaching, implementing safeguarding, attempting to stem cyberbullying, and increasing prize money with an eye to pay that equals what men receive in the sport.
What role does Saudi Arabia have in tennis?
The Public Investment Fund, or PIF, became the WTA’s global partner last year.
The kingdom now hosts the season-ending WTA Finals and an ATP event for rising stars of men’s tennis. The PIF sponsors the WTA and ATP rankings.
“We wouldn’t have been able to provide the benefits were it not for this relationship and the funding that PIF provides,” Archer said.
What are maternity leave policies in golf, soccer and basketball?
In golf, which like tennis is an individual sport without guaranteed salaries, the LPGA introduced an updated maternity leave policy in 2019 that lets athletes have the same playing status when they return.
In soccer, both the NWSL and the US women’s national team have collective bargaining agreements that allow for pregnancy leave and parental leave; the NWSL pays the full base salary while an athlete is pregnant.
In basketball, the WNBA’s CBA guarantees full pay during maternity leave.
For tennis, Azarenka said, the PIF WTA Maternity Fund Program is “just the beginning.”
“It’s an incredible beginning. Monumental change,” she said. “But I think we can look into how we can expand this fund for bigger, better things.”
Prosecutors demand Rubiales forced kiss trial be re-run
- They said judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto "unduly" prevented the prosecutor in the trial, Marta Durantez, from posing certain questions
- The judge "made no mention in the sentence" of key evidence brought up during the trial
MADRID: Prosecutors on Thursday requested that the trial of Spain's ex-football federation chief Luis Rubiales for his forced kiss on Jenni Hermoso be annulled and re-run, notably questioning the judge's impartiality.
Spain's top criminal court last month found Rubiales guilty of sexual assault for the kiss and fined him 10,800 euros ($11,670), sparing him jail in a sentence considered lenient by feminist groups.
The sentence fell well short of the demands of prosecutors, who had sought a total of two and a half years in prison for Rubiales, one year for sexual assault and 18 months for allegedly coercing Hermoso to downplay the kiss.
Hermoso is appealing the sentence, which also cleared Rubiales and three other defendants of coercion, including former women's team coach Jorge Vilda and two senior ex-federation officials.
The prosecutors said in a statement that they were appealing the sentence and requested the trial be declared null and void and "held again by another judge not tainted, to say the least, by an appearance of bias".
They said judge Jose Manuel Fernandez-Prieto "unduly" prevented the prosecutor in the trial, Marta Durantez, from posing certain questions and cited the "arbitrariness" of his sentence.
The statement added that the judge "made no mention in the sentence" of key evidence brought up during the trial, "as if such evidence had not existed".
Fernandez-Prieto attracted attention during the trial for his brusque attitude, frequently interrupting and scolding participants.
Rubiales was also banned from going within a 200-metre radius of Hermoso and from communicating with her for a period of one year. He denied the charges and is also appealing the ruling.
It was not immediately clear when the courts would decide on the various appeals.
The former federation chief sparked worldwide uproar when he kissed Hermoso on the lips as she went up to receive her winner's medal after Spain beat England in the 2023 Women's World Cup final in Sydney.
The backlash unleashed by the kiss forced Rubiales to relinquish his post in disgrace that year, saw him banned from all football-related activity for three years and plunged the federation into a prolonged period of turmoil.
The trial captivated Spain and made Hermoso, the all-time top scorer of the national women's team, an icon of the fight against sexism and macho culture in sport.
Hermoso said after the verdict that the trial would "create an important precedent in a social environment where there is still much to be done".
New Zealand vow to ‘find little ways’ to beat India in final
- New Zealand posted Champions Trophy record 362-6 to beat South Africa to qualify for final
- India beat New Zealand by 44 runs in the group stage of the tournament earlier this month
LAHORE: New Zealand have vowed to “find little ways to win moments” against India after making Champions Trophy history to power into Sunday’s final.
The Black Caps posted a Champions Trophy record 362-6 before restricting South Africa to 312-9 in Wednesday’s semifinal in Lahore.
They now face India in Dubai to decide the winners of the eight-nation 50-over tournament.
Rohit Sharma’s India are playing all their games in Dubai after they refused to tour hosts Pakistan because of political tensions.
India beat New Zealand by 44 runs in the group stage but batting all-rounder Daryl Mitchell said that would have no bearing on Sunday’s result.
“Final is a new day,” Mitchell said after scoring 49 against South Africa.
“Really excited to be stuck into that challenge and will adapt to whatever surface and conditions we get on the day, and will find little ways to win moments throughout that game.”
The tournament’s tangled schedule, with teams flying in and out of the United Arab Emirates from Pakistan while India have stayed put, has been hugely controversial.
The pitches have been vastly different in the two countries.
Pakistan tracks produced big totals, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of Dubai’s international cricket stadium.
“We don’t quite know how the Dubai pitch is like,” said Rachin Ravindra, one of the heroes of New Zealand’s semifinal win with a 101-ball 108.
“We know our game against India it did turn and Aussie v India (semifinal) didn’t turn so much, so I think we pride ourselves in adapting and playing the situation in front of us.”
India unleashed four spinners against New Zealand in the group phase and Varun Chakravarthy returned figures of 5-42 to bowl the Black Caps out for 205 in their chase of 250.
Rohit’s side were unchanged in their four-wicket win over Australia as the spin-heavy selection came up trumps again, albeit on a pitch that turned a little less this time around.
“They are all pretty good,” Mitchell said of India’s slow bowlers.
“But we have got some pretty good spinners ourselves.”
