Everything I've found on the Internet shows that Ecuador should be hosting the tournament and it will be increased to 16 teams allowing 3-4 teams from CONCACAF to participate. I also see rumors of it being held in the US. I think Ecuador should host as it would retain the exuberant fandom of South American soccer at the games and it would be a great opportunity for the USMNT to play in an in-between WC tourney on foreign soil against great opponents which would benefit them going into 2026. Anxiously awaiting a firm decision....
Nothing confirmed so far, it technically should be held in Ecuador due to the rotation order, but if I recall correctly they haven't presented an official postulation to host. So there are rumors of it being held in either Peru, or Argentina-Colombia or the USA. In my opinion, it will probably be held in the USA with the excuse that it is to test the fields for the world cup or something, but we all know that CONMEBOL just wants the green bucks. I just hope that we have 16 teams because having 2 groups of 5 is way too boring.
There's a lot of speculation to get through with respect to the next Copa América. The only thing that's clear - if Alejandro Domínguez is a man of his word - is that we're finally going back to having only one Copa in a WC cycle. They are next in line. That's pure humo right now, what with Concacaf and Conmebol hardly being on speaking terms as far as we know. They had a pretty nasty blow-up after the 2016 Centenario - namely, Conmebol feeling betrayed b/c Concacaf and USSoccer trademarked "Copa América" in the US behind Conmebol's back, and then didn't lift a finger to help Conmebol recover the earnings frozen by FIFAGate - and the only reason I'm even slightly optimistic about a rapprochement is that Conmebol's gonna need to lobby for votes for 2030. Not impossible, but again, dependent on Concacaf and Conmebol burying the hatchet. Ecuador's anxiously awaiting it as well, as they would need to make a significant investment in stadium infrastructure if they were tasked with hosting a 16-team tournament. Where did you hear the rumor about Peru hosting?
Twitter, so take it with a grain of salt. And the Argentina-Colombia rumour is because they couldn't host the 2021 Copa (which was actually 2020) due Covid.
I'm pretty sure the rotation order will be scraped or has been already. Some countries are simply not capable of hosting a modern copa america with the current technical requirements. I doubt we'll see a Copa in Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay for a long time (unless they present a joint bid). For the same reason I doubt Ecuador will host at this point, they have like 2 or 3 stadiums that meet the standards and we are less than 2 years away from the tournament.
Wherever it is, with Concacaf not backing down on biennial Gold Cups, it better not be on the FIFA calendar (i.e. player release) for the Concacaf guest teams. As the “Centenario” edition in 2016 was. That would mean seven (!) consecutive years of mandatory player release for major tournaments for the likes of Mexico. 2021 - Gold Cup 2022 - World Cup 2023 - Gold Cup 2024 - Copa America (special edition?) 2025 - Gold Cup 2026 - World Cup 2027 - Gold Cup It’s madness, and without the “Centenario” angle FIFA should never entertain it. And if the US and Mexico can’t call up their first team I doubt you will see the competition in the US.
Teams like the USA and Mexico do not always bring in European based players for these tournaments though. They sometimes use it as experiments with domestic players so it is not as much of a burden on club teams as you make it out to be.
As for where it will be held I am hoping Colombia with Argentina or by itself. It was a shame Colombia were not able to host in 2021. Colombia had a good chance of winning it all if they were able to host and have fans in the stands but COVID messed that up. If not Col/Arg then it should be USA especially if it is going to be 16 teams.
Yep, rotation died already as last time I checked "Ecuador" comes after Bolivia and Colombia in the alphabet. The whole rotation scheme was just an excuse to have Argentina and Brazil host the Copa after Venezuela in 2007 without anyone else complaining or competing to host, and then hope everyone forgot about the that plan after 8 years.
When it comes to Alphabetical you are correct. But when it comes to sequential order Ecuador hosted in 1993 Bolivia in '97. So that could have been the rotation they followed. (But it is all moot.)
I don't think it's going to represent a major problem for them (Mexico, USA and Canada) considering that they are not going to have many competitive games in the 2022-2026 cycle due to them not having to play qualifiers. Besides, Mexico used to participate in every Copa América with their A team until the 2010 decade where they started to send their B team (except for 2016)
We definitely used to bring the A team, with the gold cup getting the B team until Concacaf essentially forced the teams to take the A team to the gold cup and send a B team to Copa America, that gave them no chance, but also hurt the viewership in the lucrative TV deals in Concacaf.
I apologize for my confusion, but whether talking about the 2016 Copa America Centenario or the Gold Cup, aren't both of these played between the major European league seasons?
If memory serves right, Mexico stopped sending its first team to the Copa America with the introduction of the FIFA International Match Calendar (which forces clubs to release players in certain circumstances). The Copa America is not an event for Concacaf teams, or any other “guests” for that matter. It does not belong on the protected calendar for those participants. The reason Qatar was able to field its first team in Copa America and Gold Cup is because the Qatari clubs (owned by the royal family) do as told by the Qatari FA (controlled by the royal family). FIFA should not entertain any such requests (and frankly, should not have entertained it for the 2016 Centenario either. But you can argue that was a one-off.)
Whether it is played in the break is irrelevant. Clubs (and not just European ones) don’t want their players in a major tournament every single summer.
That's part of the story, but doesn't explain why Mexico went from sending B-teams in the late oughts to straight-up Olympic teams (u-23 + 3) in the 2010s, Centenario aside. That came down to the late Chuck Blazer falling out with Nicolás Leoz and obligating Concacaf guests in the Copa América to use Olympic teams, just to give Conmebol the middle finger.
But the thing is most players do not get called up for three consecutive summers. Coaches sometimes use the Gold Cups to experiment. Mexico (Your example) has brought in some so name domestic dudes to many Gold Cups.
Maybe they will, maybe they won't. It's the principle of it. If you add a protected Copa America for Concacaf teams in even years some players could - in theory - be called up every single year for a major tournament. By design that should not be possible and FIFA needs to take reasonable measures to protect the players. In my book it doesn't really matter where the players are based. Whether in Europe or Liga MX (or MLS which has many Concacaf players).
My vision for the Americas is a combined, expanded Copa America of 24 teams held on a quadrennial basis. With hosting rights rotated between North and South. With the Gold Cup scrapped. The previous issue of Confederations Cup representation no longer exists. You can keep some regional tournaments in the Caribbean and Central America but like others (Gulf Cup, ASEAN Cup) they should not be on the FIFA calendar. And how about a combined Nations League for the Americas? (Maybe a bit more difficult to implement)
A combined Copa America probably is where CONMEBOL wants to go eventually in order to better compete with the Euros. And I guess if the Copa does in fact go to 24 teams, scrapping the Gold Cup would be more palatable to CONCACAF as the tournament would become redundant.
A combined Nations League is likely never gonna happen (or that's what I think) because is useless for Conmebol teams. I don't think Conmebol really wants a combined Copa America, they want the Mexican/USA dollars but including another 14 teams plus the split of money. I don't know if Conmebol really want all that trouble.
In theory that can happen but they usually do not. They call up totally different guys from clubs that do not care if they get called up. In some ways the clubs want them to be called up to get them more value. The players do not care in many of these cases so protecting them is not needed. Many of them want to play for their country as a priority and honor.
I know that Concacaf did something to somehow limit the "quality" of the teams that went to Copa America during that time period. Did Concacaf somehow impose an age limit? Other than that, how could they say who is the A team or B team. IMHO, a confed show have ZERO say about what an NT does outside of its Conferderation. Anyway, that did work out okay for Mexico as that Olympic team spent alot of time together and went on to with gold at the London Olympics.