Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and the United States Head the Four Groups in the Tournament
The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) and the Copa America Centenario Local Organizing Committee (LOC) announced today the group seeds and game dates for the historic 2016 Copa America Centenario. The once-in-a-lifetime soccer summer event, which honors 100 years of the Copa America tournament, will feature some of the world’s best teams and players competing from June 3-26, 2016, in the United States.
As the host nation, the United States earns the Group A seed, while Argentina, as the highest FIFA-ranked nation in the Americas (per December FIFA rankings), will be seeded top of Group D. Brazil will head Group B and Mexico will lead Group C.
The remaining 12 participating nations will be sorted into the four groups in early 2016 based on a public draw. Seeding for the draw will be based on the December 2015 FIFA World Rankings. Details of groups and procedures for the draw will be announced leading up to that event.
In announcing the seeded teams, organizers also revealed the dates of matches, including the cities each seeded nation will visit, as well as the dates they will play during the group phase of the tournament.
Recently, the LOC announced the 10 U.S. metropolitan areas that have been selected to host matches during the Copa America Centenario, with MetLife Stadium announced as the host of the Copa America Centenario Final on Sunday, June 26 in the New York metropolitan area. Similar to the FIFA World Cup, each venue will host matches on multiple days through the tournament. Most venues will host at least three games.
- The United States will be visiting: Santa Clara, Calif. (June 3) to kick-off the tournament, before visiting Chicago (June 7) and Philadelphia (June 11).
- Argentina will head to Santa Clara (June 6), Chicago (June 10) and Seattle (June 14).
- Brazil will travel to Pasadena (June 4), Orlando (June 8) and Foxborough (June 12), and
- Mexico will play its group matches in Phoenix (June 5), Pasadena (June 9) and Houston (June 13).
Seattle, New York/New Jersey, Foxborough and Santa Clara will all host quarterfinal matches, while Houston and Chicago will be site of the two tournament semifinals.
To be among the first to access tickets to this once-in-a-lifetime event, fans can visit www.CA2016.com. Due to the expected high demand for this premium soccer tournament, fans are urged to register early to guarantee access to information as it becomes available. More ticketing information will be released in the coming weeks.
• Sign up to receive Copa America Centenario ticketing information
• Fans are invited to visit the newly launched tournament website at www.CA2016.com
The 2016 Copa America Centenario is the historic centennial edition of Copa America – the South American championship – and will be staged outside of South America for the first time. The tournament will feature six teams from CONCACAF and all 10 teams from CONMEBOL.
Here’s what we heard from USMNT Coach Jurgen Klinsmann
Copa America Centenario 2016 in the United States is huge. It’s almost like a World Cup. The Copa America is similar to the European Championship, so it’s kind of just one step below the World Cup and having that hosted in the United States with big teams like Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and our neighbors Mexico along with other CONCACAF nations joining in a 16-team tournament next summer is an unbelievable opportunity. For us, it’s a wonderful way to kind of test the players out, to see where we are at that point in time.”
Tournament Schedule
We’re very excited about the announcement! 2016 will be a big year for football (soccer) fans as we get to experience so many tournaments, and one of the biggest on home soil! Stay tuned for more updates and the draw announcement.
-TPR Team
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