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
Max Verstappen wins the Japanese Grand Prix for his first victory of the Formula 1 season

- The four-time defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying
- Norris placed second and Piastri was third
It was his 64th career win. It was the Dutchman’s fourth straight victory on the Suzuka circuit in central Japan and breaks the momentum of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who won the season’s first two races in Melbourne, Australia, and Shanghai, China.
The four-time defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen started from pole position after setting a course-record time in qualifying, which he called “insane.” Norris placed second and Piastri was third. The track was dry despite rain earlier in the day
Football-Coach hails Valencia’s resilience after first win at Real Madrid since 2008

- Hugo Duro netted the winner in added time as Valencia moved seven points clear of the relegation zone with their shock 2-1 victory
Valencia coach Carlos Corberan said his side had shown terrific mental strength in securing their first win at Real Madrid since 2008 on Saturday.
Hugo Duro netted the winner in added time as Valencia moved seven points clear of the relegation zone with their shock 2-1 victory.
Corberan praised his players for not letting their heads drop after Vinicius Junior equalized for the hosts five minutes after the break, canceling out Valencia’s first-half lead from Mouctar Diakhaby’s goal.
“They competed with the necessary personality and mental strength to overcome any setback,” Corberan told reporters.
“In football, you can’t separate the emotional from the tactical. It’s impossible.
“Faced with a setback like Real Madrid’s goal, at a place where they’ve made comebacks before, having the mental strength to pick ourselves up, not let our heads drop and keep believing has been extremely important.”
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford )
Briton Hudson-Smith crowned Grand Slam’s first champion, Bednarek dominates

- The start-up’s super-sized purses have lured some of the sport’s top competitors, including 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
- Ethiopia’s world silver medalist Diribe Welteji surged through the final turn of the 1,500m to win in 4:04.51 and clinch the women’s short distance group
KINGSTON: Briton Matthew Hudson-Smith was crowned Grand Slam Track’s first-ever Grand Slam champion in the men’s long sprints group on Saturday, as he won the 200 meters on day two of the novel circuit’s debut meet in Kingston, Jamaica.
Hudson-Smith was second in the standings after Friday’s 400m and he won the group outright with a total of 20 points after reeling in the field in the back half of the shorter distance on Saturday, crossing the line in 20.77 seconds.
“Great to get the first one, I’m really excited and grateful,” the Paris 400m silver medalist said in televised remarks, as he leaves Kingston $100,000 (77,579.52 pounds) richer.
“I’m getting to the end of my career so it’s time to start saving,” the 30-year-old said.
American Kenny Bednarek, a twice Olympic champion, built up an enormous lead around the turn and stumbled through the tape to win the 200m in 20.07, three-tenths of a second ahead of Briton Zharnel Hughes, and clinch the men’s short sprints slam.
He won Friday’s 100m as well, for a point total of 24.
The new circuit fronted by retired American sprinter Michael Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, off its first of four meets this week with an aim of making Grand Slam Track the “Formula One of athlete racing.”
Athletes in 12 groups — men’s and women’s short sprints, long sprints, short hurdles, long hurdles, short distance and long distance — compete over two races per meet with the point totals from those runs determining the champion of each group.
The start-up’s super-sized purses have lured some of the sport’s top competitors, including 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and 400m hurdles world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who each notched wins on the meet’s opening day.
The trickier task, so far, has been filling the stands at Kingston’s National Stadium, as empty seats were abundant on Saturday after online critics slammed Friday’s even more sparsely attended opening night.
Thomas finished first in Friday’s 200m and was crowned the slam champion for the women’s longer sprints after finishing second in the 400m on Saturday in 49.14 behind Bahrain’s Olympic silver medalist Salwa Eid Naser (48.67), for 20 points total.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been more tired in my life,” said Thomas, who nearly let the second-place spot slip through her fingers in the final meters under threat from the Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino (49.35).
“I heard them on the home stretch — ‘$100,000 on the line’ — and so it really motivated me.”
Ethiopia’s world silver medalist Diribe Welteji surged through the final turn of the 1,500m to win in 4:04.51 and clinch the women’s short distance group, after notching a second-place finish in Friday’s 800m race.
Kenya’s 800m Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi provided one of the more entertaining finishes of the night as he held off all three of the men’s 1,500m Paris podium finishers down the final straight in the metric mile in 3:35.18.
Americans Yared Nuguse (3:35.36) and Cole Hocker (3:35.52) will hope to make up ground when they compete in Sunday’s 800m.
The Kingston Grand Slam Track meet ends on Sunday.
Barcelona held by Betis, miss chance to extend league lead

- The draw moves Hansi Flick’s Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday
- Gavi: If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it’s football
BARCELONA: Barcelona spurned the chance to extend their lead at the top of the LaLiga standings when they were held at home 1-1 by Real Betis on Saturday, with visiting defender Natan canceling out Gavi’s early opener.
The draw moves Hansi Flick’s Barca on to 67 points, four ahead of rivals Real Madrid who slumped to a 2-1 defeat at home by Valencia earlier on Saturday, while Betis climbed to fifth on 48 points.
The hosts had been given further motivation by Real’s shocking loss and had a great start when Gavi opened the scoring from close range, brilliantly assisted by Ferran Torres in a great team play seven minutes after kickoff.
However, Natan headed the equalizer from a corner in the 17th minute and though they dominated, Barca could not find a way past 38-year-old goalkeeper Adrian who made a string of saves later on to frustrate the hosts.
Adrian’s brilliant performance started even before Barca opened the scoring, when he palmed away Pedri’s strike from inside the box, but there was nothing he could do to keep Gavi from scoring moments later.
Barca kept up the pressure after taking the lead but Betis equalized from a Giovanni lo Celso corner which Natan jumped higher than defender Ronald Araujo to meet and head into the back of the net.
Adrian came to the rescue again as he made a stunning one-handed save from a Lamine Yamal curling strike from inside the box in the 38th minute.
Coach Hansi Flick subbed on Raphinha in the second half and Barca came back even stronger, dominating more than 75 percent of possession but wasting too many chances.
The Brazilian forward was a constant menace and missed with a curling strike from the edge of the box, with Adrian making two great efforts to deny a Jules Kounde strike in the 55th minute and a Fermin Lopez shot in the 85th.
“If we won we would be higher up the table, but in the end it’s football,” Gavi told Movistar Plus.
“We’re bitter about the result, because we couldn’t take advantage of the chances we had throughout the match, but we have to accept it and move on.”
Trinity Rodman scores early in return from 8-month injury absence, and US women beat Brazil 2-0

- Played before a lively crowd of 32,303, this game was billed as the first professional women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, the nearly 5-year-old home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams
- The Americans had been 15-0-2 since Hayes took over in June 2024
INGLEWOOD, California: Trinity Rodman drilled her shot into the bottom corner of Brazil’s net and promptly got mobbed by her teammates. She broke away from the goal celebration and grabbed her lower back, pretending to seize up with pain — only to stand up tall and laugh while flipping her pink hair over both shoulders.
After eight months of recovery from back woes, Rodman is feeling close to her old self again. The US women’s national team also showed signs of their top form while coolly handling another world power.
Rodman scored in the fifth minute of her return from a lengthy injury absence, and the Americans beat Brazil 2-0 Saturday in a friendly rematch of the Paris Olympics gold-medal match.
Rodman, the 22-year-old star and Orange County native, delivered her 11th goal for the US by finishing off a brilliant run by Alyssa Thompson. Rodman hadn’t played for the US since the Olympic final due to persistent back problems — hence her cheeky celebration.
“The medical staff was freaking out, but I felt like I had to do it,” Rodman said with a grin. “It felt so good to be in this atmosphere again, to be with the team. The stadium was crazy.”
Phallon Tullis-Joyce made six saves while keeping a clean sheet in the 28-year-old goalkeeper’s US debut. Captain Lindsey Heaps also scored a second-half penalty goal in the first of two California friendlies in four days against Brazil, who lost 2-1 in Paris as the US secured its fifth Olympic gold medal.
“I think it shows where this group is going,” Heaps said. “Our group is just getting better and better, and there’s not massive gaps between players. These young guns coming in ... it’s such a cool thing for us to see.”
Played before a lively crowd of 32,303, this game was billed as the first professional women’s sporting event at SoFi Stadium, the nearly 5-year-old home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams.
The teams meet again Tuesday night in San Jose, California.
In their most recent outing in late February, the US women took their first defeat of coach Emma Hayes’ tenure, falling 2-1 to Japan in San Diego in the final of the SheBelieves Cup. The Americans had been 15-0-2 since Hayes took over in June 2024.
Back at it in SoFi, the Americans struck early — and with style.
Studio City native Thompson got a midfield touch and made an impressive run through Brazil’s formation, sending one defender to the grass in confusion before pushing a perfect pass to Rodman for her cool finish.
Rodman’s celebration was a treat as well — for most observers, anyway.
“Except I didn’t think she was pretending,” Hayes said with a grimace. “I will have a word with her, because that was like a ‘cry wolf’ moment. I turned to the physios and said, ‘Her back’s hurting,’ instantly. And then I realized she was tricking us.”
Later in the first half, Rodman appeared to be dealing with actual pain, which she blamed on a charley horse from getting kneed by an opponent. She still played 16 minutes into the second half before coming off.
The US was awarded a penalty when substitute Lily Johannes was tripped in the box. Heaps hammered it home for her 37th goal.
The depleted US defense had several rough moments in front of goal. The Seleção carried significant stretches of play and forced Tullis-Joyce to work hard, but the Long Island native who plays for Manchester United handled every chance capably.
Tullis-Joyce is competing for the first-string job after the retirement of Alyssa Naeher. Her parents and brother attended the match, but they didn’t know she would start until the lineup was announced an hour before kickoff.
“I love a clean sheet,” Tullis-Joyce said. “Happy for my teammates as well. That back line, they really gritted it out. Everybody was putting their body on the line. Credit to Brazil.”
The Americans will be without starting center backs Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson for the near future. They were replaced by Emily Sonnett and Tara McKeown, who only broke into the US lineup earlier this year.
Two weeks after the Mexico men’s team won the CONCACAF Nations Cup at SoFi, this friendly match was another early chapter in a series of upcoming soccer events in the Los Angeles area, including the 2026 men’s World Cup, the Los Angeles Olympics tournament and probably the Women’s World Cup in 2031.