You are trying to solve a problem that does not exist. CONCACAF players and clubs are not angry over the current calendar. I am critical of FIFA as much as I am Club teams. I do not agree with everything FIFA does so that is also a false premise I disagree with.
The thing about the WBC is that it relies almost exclusively on one league (MLB) which has just about all the best/top players from most, if not all, countries. If a European Super League is eventually brought to reality we might see something close to that happen. And that would be a downright shame for the sport.
In the end CONCACAF is 35 votes and Infantino is never going to alienate that many votes. And CONCACAF is never going to want to get rid of a Gold Cup every two years because the Gold Cup is it’s primary source of revenue, I agree that it’d be better/more meaningful if they did it every 4 years, but it’s realistically just not going to change as long as the current FIFA structure is what it is.
Don't look now @Nico Limmat , but... Yes, was added at request of both confederations.— Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) February 14, 2023 The Copa América will be official for BOTH confeds!
Although... Nico argued for fewer and higher quality events. From a CONMEBOL perspective, this is probably a step in that direction. It really looks like this will be the only Copa America in the current 4-year cycle, and this probably beats the two groups of 5 format of the last Copa and certainly beats the traditional three groups of 4 format that includes two non-competitive U-23 sides. CONCACAF though.. .... if confederations were Sesame Street characters, they'd be the cookie monster. Greedy, messy and dumb.
CONCACAF may be a bit greedy however it is a functional greedy. As stated many times USA, Mexico and Canada need competitive official sparring matches to train for the World Cup.
How reliable is Jon Arnold as a source? I do remember it being spelled out for the 2016 Centenario. That said, I see the international match calendar was on the council agenda. Anyway, this was always going to happen. Conmebol and Concacaf would not have made the announcement without Infantino's assurances. Which prompts the following. Exactly how much independence does this council have from the president? But here is my question, if every daft calendar request (up next, the expanded 2025 Gold Cup?) just gets rubber-stamped without even a semblance of due scrutiny then what is the point of having such an "international match calendar"?
Anything Concacaf, he's your guy. So Infantino has a cudgel to beat clubs into submission with? At least, how it plays out in his head before starting negotiations...
WC/Copa Qualifying news. https://www.espn.com/soccer/concaca...als-revamped-world-cupcopa-america-qualifying
Still no news on which stadiums/cities will host Copa America ‘24? We’re a year out, I’d figured there’d be more info at this point.
They announced the 2016 Copa America Centenario stadiums in November of 2015. Maybe they will do it sooner than that this time around but you never know. I think it is safe to say NJ, LA, Santa Clara, Miami, Dallas, New England are shoo-ins. I would guess Seattle, Atlanta and Philly are pretty much also guarantied but not as set in stone as the others.
Yeah, this in CONMEBOL - nothing is determined far in advance. I expect news on this to trickle in. By New Years' we might know the venues but don't expect a full match schedule (i.e. venues paired with matches and dates) until well into 2024.
November we will know which CONCACAF teams will qualify so it makes even more sense now to me to announce it that month. They may even reveal where the USA will host matches and other seeded teams (Last time the seeds were USA, Mexico, Brasil, Argentina but they may change it up this time around.)
Actually, we won't know the final 2 CONCACAF teams until March. But yeah... given that US and Mexico have quite a big lead in the CONCACAF ranking index, and ARG and BRA are #1 and #3 in the FIFA rankings, I think we can pretty much assume it will be those same 4 teams that will be seeded. If there's one of those at risk, it might be Mexico since they are not the host and their FIFA ranking is at risk of dropping below Uruguay and/or Colombia soon. Plus, there is no guarantee that they will be among the first 4 CONCACAF teams that qualify which may complicate the seeding process.
Yup, they probably won't wait until March to reveal things so they will just do place holders like the last World Cup did during the draw.
Assuming those are the four seeded teams they may try to rig things so that they can sell tickets early on for the droves of fans who want to see USA, Mexico, Brasil and Argentina play. I would base the USA in Seattle, Atlanta, Philly. Brasil in Miami, New England, NJ. Argentina maybe Texas, Miami, NJ. Mexico pretty much would sell tickets anywhere and any venue.
And to be honest, Argentina could probably sell out most venues. Especially since it is Messi's first official tournament as a WC champion and some rumor this could be his last tournament ever for Argentina.
Agreed... mind you, Conmebol sides made pretty clear last time that they did not appreciate having to travel cross-country during the group stage (Bolivia and Uruguay being the most vocal). The more the group stage fixtures can be regionalized, the better.
Regionalizing would suck but I could see it happen. Maybe: USA- New England-Philly-NJ Mexico- Seattle- Santa Clara-LA Argentina- Dallas- Atlanta - Miami Brazil- Miami-NJ-New England.
During 2016 Copa América, they seeded the best 2 CONMEBOL Teams and the best 2 CONCACAF teams. Chile, Uruguay and Colombia were in Pot 2 even though the three teams were ranked above Mexico and the USA in the FIFA Rankings. That way they could have one pot full of the 4 remaining concacaf teams (thus ensuring that every group has at least 1 CONCACAF team and only the USA/Mex groups had 2 CONCACAF teams) Chances are they will likely repeat the same process again. Mexico and USA FIFA Rankings are so far above everyone else in CONCACAF that I don't think Canada catches up either on them even if they manage to win the 2 summer competitions. So they will likely be seeds again barring a tragedy where one of them fails to qualify (which I doubt cause the qualifiers are home and away matches)
Yes, I agree that is the most likely. I will just point out that there is some difference between 2016 and 2024 in that 2016 was a celebratory event for the 100th anniversary, whereas this is more of a regular Copa America with a last-minute venue change. In the last regular Copa America, they just went with FIFA rankings to determine the pots for the draw.
I would be in agreement... but Conmebol itself stated that they and Concacaf are co-organizing this edition. So... My bet is this happening again.
How about this: Eastern Conference USA: New Jersey, New England, Philadelphia. Argentina: Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami. Western Conference Mexico: Seattle, Santa Clara, Los Angeles. Brazil: Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas.