When all major European soccer competitions are finished somewhere in June, there are only a few significant football events worth watching, that is until the next season begins in August. This year, one of the biggest football events, Copa America, will take place in Brazil.
The 46th edition of Copa America will start in about a month, and some of the football giants will compete for the continental crown in this South America’s competition. If you look forward to seeing this tournament and teams that will take a part in it, here is a quick review of what you can expect from this competition.
Copa America 2019: Teams and Hosts
This quadrennial international men’s football championship, organized by South America’s football ruling body CONMEBOL, will be held this year in Brazil, and this is the first time it will be played there since 1989.
This upcoming Copa America is expected to break all viewership records, which is why TV companies from all over the world are trying to get their hands on the broadcasting rights. Online bookmakers are also aware of this popularity, so they tend to lure people with various promotions, such as Mybet Partnercode, and use the fame of this competition.
The 46th Copa America begins on June 14, and it will last three weeks until the final, which is on program on July 7. There are three groups of four teams that will fight for the quarter-finals, and this year Qatar and Japan are two more nations that are invited to play in the tournament. This will be the first time for Qatar to play in this competition, while Japan will be making their second appearance since they played first time in 1999.
Chile is the team that defends the title this year, since they defeated Argentina on penalties in 2016, and there is doubt that it will be incredibly difficult to repeat that success, especially due to quality of football giants such as Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. These three teams definitely can be considered favorites to win this Copa America, but it won’t be that easy for them either.
Venues, Group Stage and Winners
This year’s Copa America will be played in five Brazilian cities: Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre. The opening match will take a place at the Estadio de Morumbi in Sao Paulo, while the final will be held at the Estadio de Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
The winners and runners-up of each group and the two best third-placed teams qualify for the quarter-finals, and this is only the knockout stage where extra time is not played. First match of the tournament will be played between Brazil and Bolivia, and this will also be the only match played that day.
When it comes to all-time winners, Uruguay has the most Copa America titles, 15 overall, and Argentina has only one less. Brazil has won this tournament ‘only’ 8 times, so there is no doubt that Neymar and the crew will have a great motive to win the title this year.
