The proposal is inspired in the Copa America Centenario. It has three parts. ONE – "Liga de Naciones Sudamericanas" Conmebol's World Cup qualifiers would no longer be merely a World Cup qualifier, but also an official tournament on its own right. The tournament would be called "Liga de Naciones Sudamericanas." All teams from Conmebol would participate in the "South American League of Nations," even those automaticaly qualified to the World Cup. The champions would receive Conmebol's most traditional trophy, the one currently awarded to the champion of Copa America. TWO - "La Copa" Conmebol would organize a Cup tournament, simply called "La Copa." Only the ten teams from Conmebol would participate in "The Cup." Teams would be divided in two groups of 5. The top-4 from each group would qualify to the knockout rounds. "The Cup" would be held every four years in between the World Cup and Copa America. Only Conmebol members would host it. THREE – "Copa America" Copa America would be co-organized by Conmebol and Concacaf, and it would have a new trophy. Copa America would be held every four years, concomitantly with the Euro; always in the United States. Copa America would be disputed by 16 teams. From Conmebol, the top-8 teams in the "South American League of Nations" would qualify to Copa America. Concacaf would held regionalized qualifiers especially for Copa America. NAFU (North America - MEX, USA, CAN), UNCAF, and CFU would have 2 spots each. Playoffs would define the remaining spots, between: UNCAF #3; CFU #3; NAFU #3; and the winner of UNCAF #4 v. CFU #4. Copa America's 16 teams would be divided in 4 groups. The pots for the draw would be determined by region and ranking, so every group would be balanced both in strength and geographically.
Doubt that would happen, FIFA only approved this Copa America for celebrating 100 years. They don't want two tournaments for CONMEBOL, that's why we went to every four years instead of the former two years.
Close. I would do away with the regions completely. I like the similar set-up to the 16-team Euro but everyone qualifies except the host (not always USA). 10 groups of 5 with the top team from each group qualifying and the 2nd place teams drawn in a play-off. Teams would play 8 qualifier games (10 with the 2-legged play-off). In a quick mock draw, Argentina was host, the worst travel group might be Canada to Chile and Bolivia. Uruguay to Belize and Guatemala. Paraguay and USA both drew all-Caribbean teams. I like the idea of the 2 confederations merging to have a better competition similar to the Euro. I don't think enough countries have enough money. I would like to see a better (more fair) qualifying system.
Sunil denies any merger talk: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/s...n=click&contentCollection=Sports&pgtype=Blogs
A merger is better: *Have Concacaf host final Gold Cup in 2017 (55th anniversary) and invite some Conmebol members. After it have Conmebol absorb Concacaf as the former is more than 30 years older to form one single body government of football in the continent. Rename it with the following most common languages in America: -Football Confederation of America (English) -Confederación Balompíe de América (Spanish) -Voetbal Confederatie van Amerika (Dutch) -le Football Confédération d' Amérique (French) -O Confederação Futebol do América (Portuguese) *Have only one international tournament every four years renamed Copa Oro de América (Gold Cup of America). Host it on the same years the Euro is held to provide competition and alternatives for fans worldwide. Up to 20 teams in 5 groups of four should qualify for the tournament, with the group winners and three best-placed runner ups going to the KO phase. *Have four divisions for world cup, olympics, America, and champions league qualifying: North, Central, South and Caribbean. Limit slots for each division: North: USA, Mexico, and Canada. Central: Guatemala, Nicaragua, Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica, and Belize. South: all current Conmebol members + French Guinea, Suriname, and Guyana. Caribbean: all football members in the Caribbean (Jamaica, Haiti, etc) *Have one club championship called Copa Clubes de América. Host it on a neutral venue in a single legged match. I'll think of more next time.
A merger is not better for South American Federations who do not want a bunch of Caribbean nations telling them how to run their business.
But US involvement is an asset both monetarily and globally. S.Americans hate being second fiddle to Europe so by having the global powers of North America football like the US and Mexico the Copa's relevance expands exponentially and gives the Euro a run for their money. Conmebol only has 3 world champions, a highly favored underdog (Colombia), and the rest rank from mediocre to average. UEFA has 6 world powers (4 of them world champions, the others are Portugal and Netherlands despite the latter not in Euro '16), several underdogs like Croatia, and the rest are just fodder.
a merged cup will not give the euros a run for their money..the football world is eurocentric and the involvement of the usa and mexico dont change that...they dont bring in genuine world class players or teams to the table conmebol is just fine without the high percentage of rubbish teams from concacaf
remember that the best players come from America. Do you think Real Madrid would win half their European titles without the help of an argentine? Eurocentrism in football is a cancer to the sport, especially when their poster boy is pretty boy international underachiever Cristiano Ronaldo and their poster nation are the dive-happy Germans (yes, they dive, from the Klinsmanns all the way to the Müllers; their World Cup win was a bust).
thats all very nice and well but the USA and Mexico are not enough to swing interest away from the EUROs your in fantasy land if you truly believe that also...how was the german world dup win a bust?
yet another boring 1-0 final going through extra time. Neuer merited a red card when he kneed an argentine player; better keepers would've parried the ball without having to KO their opponents. Brazil should've been eliminated by Colombia but the damn ref turned a blind eye on many of their fouls. Had Colombia met Germany there would've been a high chance of Colombia facing Argentina in the final. Germany only trounced Brazil because Scolari picked the worst players for the team while leaving out Kaka and Ronaldinho, and since Neymar was their only "good" player they got humilitated. I think it was good for them in a way given how cocky their fans got and how overconfident the team was simply because they were the hosts. I wished Argentina won not because I wanted then to humilitate Brazil even further but because I didn't want a World Cup held in America be won by an European team. Wish not granted.
The US stole the "America" name for their country. And we got the "America" back for our Southamerican football competition. Let's keep it that way.
Copa america should be permanently played in the United States and fifa headquarters relocatedto New York City
I was just about to post on this. I heard of talk about merging the Copa de Oro and Copa America and hosting it permanently in the USA. I like the merger but not USA permanently hosting.
That talk is dying a slow death. But there is still talk and rumors about a 16 team tournament that is called by another name that may be held at various locations.
Portugal is a world power???? Portugal better than Chile?? Really?? England has been sucking for how many years now?? And i dont think you can call Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador...average
I think merging the CONMEBOL-CONCACAF tournaments is an awful idea. I know that in rugby union, the qualifying processes are merged for both regions, but this is because there are hardly any WR affiliates in the region, so it's a necessity. But the CONMEBOL and CONCACAF have so many members as it is. Trying to somehow merge all these cycles, tourneys, etc seems like a gigantic clusterf***. Smaller teams will get pushed out. Not to mention the Copa America in the US is suffering from terrible logistical issues and the fact that Americans won't pay top dollar to see soccer if they can tune in on TV.