CONCACAF and CONMEBOL have confirmed that the United States will host the 45th edition of the Copa America Centenario in the summer of 2016.
The tournament, marking the 100th anniversary of the inaugural 1916 tournament, will run from June 3rd through 26th and will mark the first time the Copa America is played outside of South America.
As reported by Pro Soccer Talk’s Nicholas Mendola last month and again last Monday via MLSSoccer.com, this “historic announcement” will feature 10 nations of CONMEBOL (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) plus the United States, Mexico and four other CONCACAF nations.
The two CONCACAF nations joining the USMNT and El Tri will be decided by two of the four semifinalists from the 2015 Gold Cup. The Copa America will also run in 2015 with Chile hosting, and 2019 with Brazil hosting. The 2016 tournament will serve as a special off-year edition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the event.
According to the Miami Herald venues being considered are the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida and Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. The competition is not yet on the FIFA calendar, which would provide a hurdle to securing clubs’ top players for the tournament. It is also going to overlap significantly with Euro 2016, which runs from June 10-July 10.
A few hurdles need to be cleared between now and the 2016 Copa America, chiefly getting this tournament on FIFA’s schedule, which will help secure top players’ availability for the tournament. In addition, the timing of the tournament abuts a number of potential conflicts including the 2016 Summer Olympics, World Cup qualifying matches, the Major League Soccer schedule and Euro 2016.
