The football tournament Copa America is played by the South American countries. Football is the most popular sport in South America and is governed by CONMEBOL which stands for South American Football Association. It has 10 member nations thus making it FIFA’s smallest confederation. Because of how the tournament is formatted, two nations are invited every match.

While Copa America is a South American tournament, the United States have always been invited since 1993. They could not join this year because of conflicts with Major League Soccer. This tournament has already been held 42 times but only seven nations have won the trophy. Judging by the fact that CONMEBOL members have won the World Cup nine times, expect the quality of football in the tournament to be of the highest caliber.

Argentina is the current host of the games. It started on July 1 and will end on the 24th of the same month. The defending champion is Brazil. Japan was actually invited to participate but couldn’t make it because of conflicting schedules. Mexico will play together with Japan’s replacement which is Costa Rica.

There will be 23 players per team. The names of three players must be those of goalkeepers. The names of the match officials were chosen from a list of referees coming from the member countries.

The 53,000 seat Estadia Ciudad de la Plata was the host of the opening games. In the opening stages of the tournament, the 12 teams will be divided into three groups. Six games will be played in each group.

There will be 18 games that will be played in the group stage. Those who finish first and second plus the two best third place finishers will qualify for the quarterfinals. Thus the next round will only be composed of eight teams.

The tournament is still at the opening rounds of play. The host country which is Argentina is in Group A and so far has drawn its first two games. Quarterfinals will take place on July 16 and three days after, four teams will be playing the semifinal round on July 19. The finals will be held at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti on July 24.

The Copa America is one of the world’s most watched football tournament. Brazil, who won the World Cup five times already is the defending champion. But it looks like Argentina, who has the world’s greatest football player in Lionel Messi, who will be favored. Messi who has 17 goals will be paired off with Brazil Robinho who has 25 goals. Find out who will be the winner in this tournament of exceptional football.

Find out more about the Copa America live by visiting our website where you can also place a bet through bet365 or many of the other companies available.

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