Copa America Travel Guide
Copa America Centenario
The 2016 Centennial Copa America is being hosted out of the United States and will run from June 3-26. The Centennial Copa America is a celebratory soccer tournament commemorating the centennial anniversary of CONMEBOL (the South American Football Confederation) and Copa America.
The tournament is somewhat different than the traditional tournament hosted every four years. For example the Centennial Copa America contains a field of 16 teams unlike the usual number of 12 for a traditional Copa America. As well, the Centennial Copa America marks the 45th iteration of the tournament, and is the first Copa America to be hosted outside of South America. It is also worth noting that the tournament will not act as a qualifier for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Competitors
Among the 16 competitors are 10 teams who are CONMEBOL members and the remaining 16 are CONCACAF (The Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football) members. Notable competitors in the group are automatic qualifiers the United States and Mexico, as well as the 2015 Copa America title holder Chile. One among this field of 16 will go down as victors of the Copa America Centenario at Metlife Stadium this June.
Venues
Ten venues will play host to the 16 teams competing in the 2016 Copa America. Many of the venues should be recognizable to casual American Football fans that are used to seeing these venues as stadiums for their favorite pro and collegiate American Football teams. The venues are spread across the United States and are highlighted by a mix of contemporary and historic venues. Among the more recent built stadiums are the recently constructed Levi’s Stadium, home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, and Metlife Stadium, host of the 2016 Copa America’s final match on June 26.
For those appreciative of older venues, you are in luck with this year’s batch of selected host stadiums. Two notable and more traditional stadiums include the historic Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA and Solider Field in Chicago, IL. The Rose Bowl is the annual host of the Rose Bowl Game each New Year’s Day, and is considered the “Granddaddy of them All.” Soldier Field is the home of the Chicago Bears and was first opened on October 9, 1924.
Other notable venues include Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.