Though isn't URU now #3 in FIFA rankings among teams from the Americas? Guess the question is, Will C'bol rig the draw like CONCACAF always does for the Gold Cup
Arg is champ. Brazil is highest ranked Conmebol. Mexico is concacaf champ and USA is host. Those are the seeds
Lame to give MEX a seed ahead of URU who have been better than MEX by every measure for more than a decade, but this is to be expected.
It is kinda lame but they did it the same way in the Centenario so at least they are consistently lame. And it is a joint Copa so it does make sense that both Confederations have seeds in a compromise.
Makes perfect sense. The only reason the tournament is in the US is to cash in on the large Mexican audience and USA dollars. It's the very least they can do. Uruguay is used to the underdog.
There's a semantic difference, though: 2016 was officially a "special edition" co-hosted by both sides, with Concacaf having an equal say in tournament logistics. This ended up being the cause of one of Conmebol's main gripes, the cross-country travel between group stage games (see: Bolivia's and Uruguay's fixtures). This 2024 edition, on the other hand, has been explicitly referred to as the Conmebol Copa América even in Concacaf's announcements on qualifying. There's a collaboration, to be sure - at least, enough to get FIFA to sign off on Concacaf sides competing as full participants, with the power to force clubs to release players - but the official line so far has been that Conmebol's calling the shots.
True. But you can only call the shots so much when you know Mexico is the main cash cow of this tournament and the USA pays the bills.
It is easy to become numb to silly practices when those practices are so consistent. But imagine England getting an automatic #1 seed every World Cup simply because they bring the most travelling fans.
Ha. I guess it could happen if Europe and Asia had a combined tournament (which is the better comparison) but point well taken.
Regulations are out already: https://www.conmebol.com/documentos/reglamento-conmebol-copa-america-usa-2024/ TLDR: Argentina as the current Copa América champions will be placed in Group A Mexico as the current Gold Cup champions will be placed in Group B The other two top seeds will be the highest remaining teams from each confederation (So Brazil and USA) Another interesting thing is that it says that the Finalissima spot will go to a CONMEBOL team, even if a CONCACAF team manages to win the tournament.
Everyone else will be seeded in pots according to their FIFA ranking, except for the 2 CONCACAF play-in spots which are going to be placed in Pot 4, so that means that Panama is going to be in Pot 3. Max 2 CONCACAF teams per group.
Good find... mind you, even the regulations document itself states that as the reigning Gold Cup champ, if Mexico had failed to qualify via Nations League this month, they would've missed out on the top seed (Panama would've gotten the "Gold Cup" nod instead).
Ok, after reading "da rules" ( https://copaamerica.com/reglamento/ ) This seems to be it: Group A - Argentina (Copa America reigning champion, no draw for top seeds) Group B - Mexico (Gold Cup champion) Group C - USA (best ranked Concacaf excluding champion) Group D - Brazil (best ranked Conmebol excluding champion) Quarterfinals: Groups A crossovers with B, C with D. Semifinals: Winner 1A v 2B will face the winner of 2A v 1B. Similarly, the other semifinal involves the winners of the QF match ups between groups C and D. This is new compared to 2016 edition, basically means if you are drawn into A or B you won't meet a team from C or D until the final or 3rd place match (so, eg Argentina can't play Brazil before the final or 3rd place match). Group stage draw restrictions: - No less than 2 and no more than 3 Conmebol teams in the same group. - No less than 1 and no more than 2 Concacaf teams in the same group.
Gold Cup champion is a stupid excuse to give a seed. It's the Copa America, and it's not even a joint tournament like 2016, just use the FIFA ranking. I know that is all for the money so Mexico can advance to at least quarterfinals, but still. And why the 1st and 2nd of the same group can meet in the semifinal and not the final? That is ridiculous. I had no expectation with this Copa America, but it seems Conmebol always can do worse
Oh, now I'm definitely rooting for a Concacaf winner. Hopefully it's the last "special Copa" for a while (hey, a man can dream)
I think this format is here to stay... My prediction is that ever other edition will be hosted in the US. Like, 2028 in south america (Colombia maybe), 2032 back in USA and so on.
Then properly agree on that and - at the very least - axe one Gold Cup from the international calendar. Anything else is fixture madness.
We all know it is about money. Especially with all of the financial losses that occurred during COVID. CONCACAF giving up the Gold Cup is like asking Saudi Arabia to give up on hosting a World Cup. Not going to happen.
As for the Teams playing in the same Group being bracketed only to the Semis... ...that is kind of interesting and weird. Only thing I can think of is if they just want to have it regional and not as much travel for teams and fans? Some people around here said that was one of the major complaints about last tournament in the USA. But that is a huge stab in the dark to assume that is why they did it.
The US has the best collection of stadiums out of any country, transportation here is reliable, the tournaments are well organize, and $$$ is maximized when the US hosts. So, I see it very likely that the US will get a disproportional hosts gigs - UNTIL, until the US manages to win one of these things, then you will see the rest of the countries complain that the US had an unfair advantage b/c they hosted
As a side note, I can imagine right now everyone in Mexico and Univision is hoping for a Group of Peru-Jamaica-Bolivia based on the rules set in place.
IMO they just want to make completely sure that Argentina and Brazil don't meet before the final. Ideally, they probably also want to make sure Mexico and USA get to play against them (whether in QF or SF) to maximize revenue.
What it does is make every team know which semifinal they would go to. They could use that to reduce travel--two western groups and two eastern groups that never have to travel across the continent until the final, but we'll see if they actually schedule it that way. It also prevents a USA-Mexico or Brazil-Argentina semifinal and preserves those as possible final matchups.