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Copa America comes to the United States for first time

      For the next six weeks, the eyes of the western hemisphere will be on the United States as the country hosts the Copa America Centenario, the biggest, most prestigious men’s soccer tournament hosted here since the 1994 FIFA World Cup. 

      While the Copa America is traditionally South America’s quadrennial soccer championship, the 100^th anniversary of the fixture will be the first one to be played outside of the continent. Sixteen teams will compete for the championship – 10 from South America and six from North and Central America and the Caribbean – including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, the United States, and Venezuela.

      The Group Stage of the tournament will take place from June 3-14 across 10 U.S. cities – Chicago; East Rutherford, N.J.; Foxborough, Mass.; Glendale, Ariz.; Houston; Orlando, Fla.; Pasadena, Calif.; Philadelphia; Santa Clara, Calif.; and Seattle.

      The teams have been divided into four groups of four teams. Like the World Cup, each group will play a round-robin format, with each team playing each other once. A win earns three points, a draw one, and a loss none. The top two point-earning teams of each group will then move on to the single elimination portion of the tournament.

      The quarterfinals, held from June 16-18, will feature matchups between the first place and second place teams from each group (Group A1 vs. Group B2, Group B1 vs. Group A2, Group C1 vs. Group D2, and Group D1 vs. Group C2), with the winners advancing to the semifinals. 

      As every game played in the tournament is given a sequential number, the semifinals, played June 21 and 22, will see the winners of games 25 and 27 square off on one side, with the winners of games 26 and 28 on the other side of the bracket.

      The losers of the semifinal matches will play the third place match on June 25.

      The winners of the semifinal matches will play for the Copa America Centenario trophy June 26 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

      FOX will air all 32 games live via Fox Sports 1, FOX Broadcast Network and FX.

      For more information on the Copa America Centenario, the teams and players involved, log on to www.ca2016.com.

Copa America Centenario

      The 100^th anniversary Copa America begins June 3. The 16 teams featured will play round-robin group stage matches through June 14. The quarterfinals are set for June 16-18, with the semifinals June 21–22. The third place match will be played June 25, with the final June 26. FOX will air all 32 games live via Fox Sports 1, FOX Broadcast Network and FX.

    Group A             Group B             Group C             Group D

       USA                   Brazil                 Mexico              Argentina

    Colombia            Ecuador             Uruguay                Chile

  Costa Rica              Haiti                 Jamaica              Panama

   Paraguay               Peru                Venezuela              Bolivia