A beginner’s guide to Copa America 2024: Groups, format, location and dates

Uruguay's Luis Suarez takes a free-kick during the Conmebol Copa America 2021 football tournament group phase. AFP
Uruguay's Luis Suarez takes a free-kick during the Conmebol Copa America 2021 football tournament group phase. AFP
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Updated 11 June 2024
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A beginner’s guide to Copa America 2024: Groups, format, location and dates

Uruguay's Luis Suarez takes a free-kick during the Conmebol Copa America 2021 football tournament group phase. AFP
  • 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

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.
GO DEEPER
Guide to the Copa America stadiums and host cities: Everything you need to know
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.
GO DEEPER
Champions League winner once more, Ballon d’Or favorite — this is Vinicius Jr’s time
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.
GO DEEPER
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


Germany’s Mueller to leave Bayern Munich after 25 years

Germany’s Mueller to leave Bayern Munich after 25 years
Updated 52 min 18 sec ago
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Germany’s Mueller to leave Bayern Munich after 25 years

Germany’s Mueller to leave Bayern Munich after 25 years
  • Bayern Munich talisman Thomas Mueller says he will leave club at season end

MUNICH: Thomas Mueller will leave Bayern Munich after 25 seasons at the club at the end of the campaign, the veteran midfielder announced on social media on Saturday.
Mueller, who came through the Bayern junior system and has won two Champions Leagues along with 12 Bundesliga titles, said the decision was made by the club and “not what I would have wished.”
The 35-year-old, a 2014 World Cup winner with Germany, did not reveal where he would play next season.


Patrick Reed leads by two, DeChambeau’s Crushers GC show way in team race at LIV Golf Miami

Patrick Reed leads by two, DeChambeau’s Crushers GC show way in team race at LIV Golf Miami
Updated 05 April 2025
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Patrick Reed leads by two, DeChambeau’s Crushers GC show way in team race at LIV Golf Miami

Patrick Reed leads by two, DeChambeau’s Crushers GC show way in team race at LIV Golf Miami
  • In LIV Golf’s first US event of 2025, it was fitting that the top four players are all past major champions, three of them with at least one green jacket to their name with the Masters a week away
  • DeChambeau’s team, Crushers GC, also holds a narrow two-shot lead in the team competition through one round

MIAMI: Despite a double bogey on his closing hole, Patrick Reed shot a 5-under par 67 and grabbed the first-round lead at LIV Golf Miami on Friday at Trump National Doral.

Reed began his round on the 10th hole and put seven birdies on his card, reaching 7 under with a tap-in at the par-5 eighth. But at the par-3 ninth, he missed the green wide left and compounded the mistake by putting his second shot into a bunker.

Reed came back to the pack a bit, but he still held a two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson (3-under 69).

“I mean, the first 17 were great,” Reed said. “No, as a whole I played solid. I hit the ball pretty well off the tee, hit some quality iron shots and made some putts, and I think that’s what you have to do around this place.

.”.. Yeah, for the back tee with this kind of wind direction here on 9, I don’t know what to do. I don’t have a club for it that I feel like I can hit a straight shot, and it’s hard to start it over the water and get it turning back. It was just an unfortunate finish, but at the end of the day, it’s still a solid round of golf.”

In LIV Golf’s first US event of 2025, it was fitting that the top four players are all past major champions, three of them with at least one green jacket to their name with the Masters a week away.

Reed won the Masters in 2018, Mickelson has captured three green jackets and Dustin Johnson won the 2020 edition that was delayed to November.

“Obviously I was playing really good at the end of 2020,” Johnson said Friday. “But the game I feel like it’s getting pretty close to that. Obviously it’s a really fine line to being that good or just a little bit off, but yeah, I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game right now.”

Johnson had a three-birdie run at Nos. 14-16 late in his round to get to 3 under, while DeChambeau was steady with four birdies and just one bogey.

DeChambeau’s team, Crushers GC, also holds a narrow two-shot lead in the team competition through one round. The four-man team of DeChambeau, Charles Howell III, Englishman Paul Casey and India’s Anirban Lahiri combined to go 2 under par, with Johnson’s 4Aces GC sitting second at even par.

“There’s a reason we won here (at the LIV Team Championship) in 2023,” DeChambeau said. “They like this golf course. They like a tough, challenging golf course where you can strategically play and let everybody kind of mess up on their own, and we just plot along and make a couple birdies where we can and move along when it’s a really brutal hole.”

 

 

 

 

 


Verstappen takes pole for Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Norris

Verstappen takes pole for Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Norris
Updated 05 April 2025
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Verstappen takes pole for Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Norris

Verstappen takes pole for Japanese Grand Prix ahead of Norris
  • Motor racing-Verstappen conjures up stunning pole lap at Suzuka

SUZUKA, JAPAN: Four-time world champion Max Verstappen smashed the track record to snatch pole position for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, as Yuki Tsunoda qualified a lowly 15th in his Red Bull debut.
Verstappen clocked a blistering lap of 1min 26.983sec in his Red Bull, 0.012sec ahead of championship leader Norris, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri third.
Verstappen set a new Suzuka track record with his final lap in Saturday’s qualifying, pipping Norris right at the death.
“Each session we kept making little improvements, then the last lap was flat out,” said Verstappen, who has won the Japanese GP for the last three years.
“In a Formula One car around here is insane. This is a proper highlight for us to be back on pole here.”
It was Verstappen’s first pole position of the season.
The Dutchman is still looking for his first grand prix win of the new campaign.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli sixth and RB’s Isack Hadjar seventh.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton was eighth, followed by Williams’s Alex Albon and Haas’s Oliver Bearman.
Norris is looking for his second grand prix win of the season, after triumphing in the season opener in Australia.
He finished second behind Piastri in China a fortnight ago in a dominant start to the campaign for McLaren.
“I’m happy, congrats to Max, he did a good job,” said Norris.
“You have to credit something when it is a lap that good that he must have done. I got everything out of the car today, the gaps are tiny.
“Good but not enough.”
Tsunoda was eliminated in Q2 in a disappointing first qualifying drive for Red Bull after being promoted in place of Liam Lawson last week.
The Japanese driver finished one place behind Lawson, who returned to RB after just two races for Red Bull in a ruthless driver swap.
Verstappen has not looked comfortable this week and he again complained to his team over the radio in Q1.
“I still have the same problem, the tires are not gripping on the front,” the Dutchman said.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams’s Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso were eliminated in Q2 along with Lawson and Tsunoda.
Sauber pair Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto, Haas’s Esteban Ocon, Alpine’s Jack Doohan and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were all eliminated in Q1.
Doohan’s practice on Friday ended when he crashed heavily into a barrier and mechanics had to work through the night to repair his badly damaged car.
Qualifying was suspended for about eight minutes in Q2 when a small trackside fire broke out as sparks from the cars ignited the grass in the dry conditions.
It was the fifth such incident of the weekend, with the second and third practice sessions also disrupted by fires.
Rain has been forecast for Sunday’s race.


Green, Sengun lift Rockets over Thunder, Celtics clinch record

Green, Sengun lift Rockets over Thunder, Celtics clinch record
Updated 05 April 2025
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Green, Sengun lift Rockets over Thunder, Celtics clinch record

Green, Sengun lift Rockets over Thunder, Celtics clinch record
  • Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27
  • Cleveland Cavaliers edged closer to locking up the No.1 seed from the Eastern Conference with a nailbiting 114-113 defeat of the Spurs

LOS ANGELES: Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City’s 11-game winning streak on Friday with a statement 125-111 victory.

In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the postseason.

Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27.

Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the lead before building a 23-point advantage late in the second quarter.

Houston maintained a 20-point cushion with 2min 53sec remaining in the third quarter before a Thunder rally cut the gap to single digits early in the fourth.

But Houston coolly regrouped and snuffed out any chance of a comeback from Oklahoma City.

Houston coach Ime Udoka praised the aggressive scoring approach of Sengun and teammate Green.

“He was in attack mode the whole time. Him and Jalen were a great combination tonight,” Udoka said of Sengun. “We’re hard to beat when those two are going like that.”

Jalen Williams led the OKC scoring with 33 points while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 22. Chet Holmgren chipped in with 20 points, 18 of them coming from his tally of six three-pointers.

The Boston Celtics claimed a piece of NBA history by setting a new record for the number of three-pointers scored in a single season.

The NBA champions eclipsed the Golden State Warriors’ record of 1,363 threes set in the 2022-2023 season after adding 14 threes to their season tally in a 123-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

Boston’s three-point barrage left them with 1,370 for the season.

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said the three-point scoring record reflected his team’s work ethic and basketball IQ.

“It says that we fight for a good shot,” Mazzulla said.

“We were able to fight for good looks, versus the coverage. That’s the most important thing, continuing to understand how we’re being defended and how we can create the best shot possible.

“Credit to the guys for continuing to make the right reads.”

Jaylen Brown led Boston’s scoring with 31 points while Jayson Tatum finished with 23 in a win that dealt another blow to the Suns’ hopes of forcing their way into the postseason reckoning.

The Suns’ fifth straight defeat leaves them in 11th place in the Western Conference with a 35-42 record, two wins behind the 10th-placed Sacramento Kings (37-40), 125-102 winners over Charlotte on Friday.

The top six teams in each conference qualify automatically for the playoffs, while teams ranked seventh to 10th enter a four-team play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff places.

In San Antonio, the Cleveland Cavaliers edged closer to locking up the No.1 seed from the Eastern Conference with a nailbiting 114-113 defeat of the Spurs.


McLaughlin-Levrone, Thomas cruise to wins at Grand Slam Track opening leg

McLaughlin-Levrone, Thomas cruise to wins at Grand Slam Track opening leg
Updated 05 April 2025
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McLaughlin-Levrone, Thomas cruise to wins at Grand Slam Track opening leg

McLaughlin-Levrone, Thomas cruise to wins at Grand Slam Track opening leg
  • The lucrative prize money on offer is one of the notable features of the four-event series, which was conceived by US Olympic legend Michael Johnson with the aim of revitalizing interest in track racing
  • Newly crowned world indoor 400m champion Chris Bailey continued his impressive start to the season with victory in the 400m in a time of 44.34sec, pipping Olympic silver medalist Matt Hudson-Smith of Great Britain

KINGSTON: Two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion and world record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone cruised to victory as the opening leg of the new Grand Slam Track athletics circuit got under way in Jamaica on Friday.

American track star McLaughlin-Levrone — racing in her signature event for the first time since winning gold at the Paris Olympics last year — romped home in 52.76sec at Kingston’s National Stadium.

The 25-year-old, who will also race in Sunday’s 400m, was always in control and had opened a significant lead as she came off the final bend before pulling away to finish several meters clear of 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, who was second in 54.59sec.

“You know, just shaking the cobwebs off,” McLaughlin-Levrone said after her first race of the year. “The first one always hurts, but happy to be here.”

McLaughlin-Levrone is now in pole position to claim the $100,000 being offered to the athlete with the best combined result from the 400m hurdles and 400m.

The lucrative prize money on offer is one of the notable features of the four-event series, which was conceived by US Olympic legend Michael Johnson with the aim of revitalizing interest in track racing.

The opening action of a series that has been billed as the dawn of a new era for the sport was played out in front of a mostly empty stadium.

In other action on Friday, Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas was a similarly emphatic winner in her specialist race.

The 28-year-old surged home in 22.62sec to finish well clear of Marileidy Paulino, the Dominican Republic’s Paris Olympics 400m gold medalist, who clocked 22.96sec.

Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith was third in 22.96sec.

“It’s really exciting to be here,” Thomas said after her win.

Thomas said the prize money offered by the circuit had created an unusually intense degree of competition for an early season event.

“Normally, these early season meets we’re just practicing and feeling it out,” Thomas said. “Here...the stakes are high, the prize pot is huge and the level of competition is also really high.

“That’s not something that we’re really used to in our sport and I think it’s really good.”

In the men’s 100m, where Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles was a notable absentee, two-time Olympic 200m silver medalist Kenny Bednarek took victory in a thrilling duel with Jamaica’s Oblique Seville.

US sprinter Bednarek took the tape in 10.07sec, with Seville second in 10.08sec. Britain’s Zharnel Hughes was third in 10.13 while the USA’s Fred Kerley, the 2022 world 100m champion, was seventh in 10.30sec.

In other action on Friday, newly crowned world indoor 400m champion Chris Bailey continued his impressive start to the season with victory in the 400m in a time of 44.34sec, pipping Olympic silver medalist Matt Hudson-Smith of Great Britain, who was second in 44.65sec, with veteran US one-lap specialist Vernon Norwood third.

The men’s 400m hurdles saw a win for Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos in a world-leading time of 47.61sec, with Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke second in 48.20 and Caleb Dean of the US third in 48.58.

In the women’s 3,000m, Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye produced a devastating late kick to win in 8min 28.42sec ahead of Kenya’s Agnes Jebet Ngetich, with another Ethiopian Tsige Gebreselama third in 8:38.15.

The women’s 800m saw a world-leading time from the USA’s Nikki Hiltz, the American record-holder in the mile who is better known as a 1,500m runner.

Hiltz won in 1min 58.23sec, with Diribe Welteji second in 1:58.29 and Australia’s Jessica Hull third in 1:58.58.

Kenya’s Mary Moraa, the reigning world champion, finished last in 2:00.97.

American runners meanwhile claimed a 1-2-3 finish in the men’s 5,000m, with Grant Fisher winning in 14min 39.14sec.