The Copa America is the world’s oldest international football tournament , and it has a long history.
This doodle marks the start of the CONMEBOL Copa America 2024. The 48th football tournament will take place in the United States, which hosted the event in 2016.
Historically, the Copa America has featured teams belonging to national associations registered with CONMEBOL, of which there are currently ten. All of these teams qualify automatically, and since the tournament was renamed in 1975, there has only been one instance in which one of these teams failed to qualify for the tournament. In 2001, Argentina withdrew due to schedule and security disputes.
However, unlike UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) and CAF (Confederation of African Football), CONMEBOL (Confederation of South American Football) does not have as many member countries, which can make it difficult for it to host long-running continental tournaments, such as the European Championships, the African Cup of Nations, or the Asian Cup.
For this reason, CONMEBOL has invited guest countries to participate in tournaments over the years, and sometimes even hosted the competitions.
The hosts of the next edition in 2024, the United States and Mexico, were the first non-CONMEBOL countries to be invited in 1993. Since then, countries such as Qatar, Japan, Mexico and Panama have been invited to participate in the Copa America.
Mexico is the most frequent guest country with 11 appearances, followed by the United States with five appearances.
During the tournament, 16 teams from the Caribbean and Central, North and South America will compete against each other in 14 different host cities. Teams will be divided into four groups of four and seeded according to FIFA rankings.
Only time will tell which team will triumph. Best of luck to all the teams and fans!