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Copa America 2024 Draw: Lionel Messi-led Argentina will be up against Chile to attempt revenge for their defeats in the 2015 and 2016 Copa America finals after being grouped with their old rivals in the draw for next year’s tournament on Thursday.

The World Champions Argentina will be defending their Copa America title in the United States next summer in the expanded 16-team tournament.

The tournament will feature 10 South American teams and six qualifiers from the CONCACAF region.

 

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Argentina, who also won the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, will kick off the tournament on June 20 in Atlanta against either Canada or Trinidad & Tobago, who meet in a playoff next year to finalise one of two remaining CONCACAF slots.

They will follow it with their next meeting against the old rivals Chile in East Rutherford, New Jersey on June 25.

The high-voltage clash between the two teams will be a repeat of the 2016 Copa America Centenario final held at the same venue.

Argentina were defeated against Chile in Santiago on penalties earlier in 2015 and once again ended up on the losing side in the 2016 final in a similar fashion.

Messi missed from the spot in the penalty shoot-out as he blazed the shot over the bar and announced his retirement from international football after the heartbreaking loss.

Later, he reversed his retirement and went on to create even more breathtaking memories with the national team.

The World Champions Argentina will finish their group A campaign in familiar territory for Inter Miami’ Messi where they will be up against Peru in their final group match on June 29.

On the other hand, Mexico were drawn in Group B alongside Ecuador, Venezuela, and Jamaica, while the United States face Uruguay, Panama, and Bolivia in Group C.

Brazil, who lost the final of the tournament against Argentina in 2021 on home soil, have a potentially tricky group containing Colombia, Paraguay, and either Costa Rica or Honduras.

Next year's Copa America could be considered as a preparatory action for the participating teams for the 2026 World Cup as it will be taking place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez said at Thursday’s draw that the tournament would be a “Copa America of the World.”

“The world champion team (Argentina), the only five-time world champion team (Brazil), and the first world champion team (Uruguay) will take part, along with the best players in the world, who are Latin Americans,” Dominguez said.

Brazil will kick off their campaign at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood against either Costa Rica or Honduras on June 24.

They will follow it with their next match against Paraguay in Las Vegas on June 28 before concluding their group play against Colombia at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

 

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A total of 14 stadiums will be used for the tournament, most of them large-capacity venues that belong to NFL teams.

The quarter-final matches will take place at Houston’s NRG Stadium, The Arlington, Texas home of the Dallas Cowboys, Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, and the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The semi-finals will take place at East Rutherford on July 9, and in Charlotte on July 10, with the final taking place at Miami on July 14.