The 2024 Copa América was the 48th edition of the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

, the quadrennial international men's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

championship organized by South America's football ruling body

CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...

. The tournament was held in the United States from June 20 to July 14, 2024, and was co-organized by

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

. This was the second time that the United States hosted the tournament, having hosted the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

in 2016.

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

was the defending champion, and won a record sixteenth title after defeating

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

1–0 after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, which was played on July 14, 2024, at

Hard Rock Stadium Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Southeastern United States, located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the Univers ...

Miami Gardens, Florida Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Miami and located north of Greater Downtown Miami, downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from Interstate 95 in Florida, I-95 and N ...

Host selection

The 2024 Copa América had been expected to be hosted by Ecuador because of

's host rotation order. However, it was run by America because CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez said Ecuador had been nominated but not yet chosen to organize the edition. In November 2022, the country declined to host the tournament. Peru and the United States had both expressed interest in organizing the tournament. On January 27, 2023, it was announced that, as part of

and CONMEBOL's new strategic partnership, the United States would host the tournament with six CONCACAF guest teams qualifying through the

2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League The 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League was the third season of the CONCACAF Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF. The group stage was held in ...

. The tournament also acted as a prelude to the

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's Association football, soccer championship contested by the List of men's n ...

, of which the United States is a joint host along with Canada and Mexico.

Venues

All of the stadiums were existing venues. The opening match was held at

Mercedes-Benz Stadium Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Opened in 2017 as a replacement for the Georgia Dome, it is the home of the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) and Atlanta ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, while the final was held at

. Both venues were announced on November 20, 2023. All other stadiums were selected and announced on December 4, 2023.

Team base camps

Each team chose a "team base camp" for its stay between the matches. The teams trained and resided in these locations throughout the tournament, travelling to games staged away from their bases. The "team base camp" needed to be in the United States.

Teams

Qualification

The tournament included sixteen teams: ten from CONMEBOL and six from CONCACAF. All ten CONMEBOL national teams were eligible to enter. The six CONCACAF participants qualified through the

. The teams were the four League A quarter-final winners, and two

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

winners between the four losing quarter-finalists. Unlike the

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

did not qualify automatically despite being the hosts, but still secured a berth as one of League A quarter-final winners, following a 4–2 aggregate win against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

Draw

The group stage draw was held on December 7, 2023, at 19:30 EST ( UTC−5) in the James L. Knight Center in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. The sixteen teams were drawn into four groups of four, by selecting one team from each of the four ranked pots. For the draw, the four teams in Pot 1 were pre-seeded into their respective groups, determined as follows: * The reigning Copa América champions, Argentina, were seeded into Group A * The reigning CONCACAF Gold Cup champions, Mexico, were seeded into Group B * The highest ranked CONCACAF team in the October 2023

FIFA World Rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, first introduced in December 1992. The men's teams of the member nations of FIFA, football's world governing body, are ranked based on their gam ...

, the United States, was seeded into Group C * The next-highest ranked CONMEBOL team in the October 2023 FIFA World Rankings, Brazil, was seeded into Group D The remaining 12 teams were placed into Pots 2–4 according to their October 2023 World Rankings, with placeholders for the two CONCACAF participants yet to be determined at the time of the draw each being automatically placed into Pot 4. For the draw, the competition rules stated that no group could have more than three CONMEBOL teams or more than two CONCACAF teams. If this condition was not met during the draw, the team moved to the next available group in alphabetical order.

Seeding

Notes

Draw

Notes

Squads

The maximum squad size of the teams was increased from the original quota of 23 to 26 players. Teams had to provide the list containing a minimum of 23 players and a maximum of 26 by the deadline of June 15.

Match officials

On May 24, 2024, CONMEBOL announced 101 referees for the tournament. Referees were from CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, and UEFA because of the continuation of the

UEFA–CONMEBOL memorandum of understanding The UEFA–CONMEBOL memorandum of understanding ()Marco Di Bello and Aleandro Di Paolo (VAR), represented UEFA. This was the first edition of the Copa América to feature female referees. Four referees from the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup final was an Women's association football, association football match that determined the winner of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The match was played at the Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, on 20 August 2 ...

were incorporated, including Tori Penso and her assistants Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt, as well as VAR official Tatiana Guzmán. Edina Alves and assistants Neuza Back, Mary Blanco, Migdalia Rodríguez also took part in the tournament.

Group stage

The top two teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals. ;Tiebreakers The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows (Regulations Article 24): #

Points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat); #

Goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

in all group matches; # Number of goals scored in all group matches; # Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question; # Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question; # Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question; # Fewest red cards; # Fewest yellow cards; # Drawing of lots.

Group A

---- ----

Group B

---- ----

Group C

---- ----

Group D

---- ----

Knockout stage

In the pre-final knockout stage matches (quarter-finals, semi-finals, and third place play-off), no extra time was played and any draws were immediately resolved via penalties. In the final, if the score was level after 90 minutes, two

periods of 15 minutes each were to be played. If still level, the match was to be decided by a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Bracket

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

----

Third place play-off

Final

Due to security incidents around and within Hard Rock Stadium, the match was initially delayed by 30 minutes, ultimately starting 82 minutes after its scheduled time.

Statistics

Goalscorers

Discipline

Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. * Best Player Award:

James Rodríguez James David Rodríguez Rubio (born 12 July 1991) is a Colombian professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or Winger (association football), winger for Liga MX club Club León, León and Captain (associ ...

* Golden Boot Award:

Lautaro Martínez Lautaro Javier Martínez (born 22 August 1997), also known mononymously as Lautaro, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan, whom he captains, and the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one ...

* Best Goalkeeper Award:

Emiliano Martínez Damián Emiliano Martínez Romero (born 2 September 1992), also known as Dibu, is an Argentine professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa a ...

* Fair Play Award:

Team of the Tournament

The team of the tournament was announced on July 31, 2024.

Marketing

Sponsorships

* Absolut Sport * Betano *

BYD Auto BYD Auto Co., Ltd. ( zh, s=比亚迪汽车, p=Bǐyàdí Qìchē) is the Automotive industry, automotive subsidiary of BYD Company, a publicly listed Chinese multinational manufacturing company. It manufactures passenger battery electric vehicle ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

(US) and

LATAM Airlines LATAM Airlines Chile, formerly known as LAN Chile and LAN Airlines, is a Chilean multinational airline based in Santiago and one of the founding companies of the LATAM Airlines Group, the largest airline holding company in Latin America. Its ...

(Latin America and Brazil) * Decolar.com/ Despegar.com * Gran Centenario * Inter Rapidísimo *

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...

* Mastercard * Mercado Livre/Mercado Libre *

Michelob ULTRA Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in othe ...

* Puma *

TCL TCL or Tcl or TCLs may refer to: Business * TCL Technology, a Chinese consumer electronics and appliance company ** TCL Electronics, a subsidiary of TCL Technology * Texas Collegiate League, a collegiate baseball league * Trade Centre Limited ...

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

Merchandise

Copa América content was added to ''

EA Sports FC 24 ''EA Sports FC 24'' is an association football-themed simulation video game developed by EA Vancouver and EA Romania and published by EA Sports. It is the inaugural installment in the ''EA Sports FC'' series, succeeding the ''FIFA'' video game ...

s Ultimate Team and ''

EA Sports FC Mobile ''EA Sports FC Mobile'' (commonly known as EA FC Mobile and formerly known as FIFA Mobile until 25 September 2023) is an association football simulation video game developed by EA Mobile and EA Canada and published by EA Sports for global versio ...

'' in June 2024, although a standalone tournament mode was not made available in the game. The

Panini Group Panini is an Italian company that produces books, comics, magazines, stickers, trading cards and other items through its collectibles and publishing subsidiaries. It is headquartered in Modena and named after the Panini brothers who founded it in ...

produced thematic stickers and a

sticker album A sticker album is a book or binder to collect stickers, often arranged into designated sections. Commercial sticker albums have been released for sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, English Premier League and for specific TV shows, Mov ...

for this edition of the Copa América. Stickers were produced for all the Copa América teams, as well as

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and

, the teams that failed to qualify for the main draw through the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Broadcasting rights

Symbols

Mascot

The tournament's official mascot was unveiled on December 7, 2023, during the group stage draw. It was an eagle named "Capitán", the Spanish word for captain. The inspiration for the choice of an eagle as the mascot for the 2024 Copa América, was "born from the symbolism that this majestic animal has in various cultures of the Americas, illustrating strength, boldness, and excellence."

Match ball

The match balls of this tournament were provided by Puma for the first time after twenty years of partnership with

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

ended in 2023. The "Puma Cumbre" was unveiled during the draw for the group stage of the competition on December 7, 2023.

Music

Instead of one official song, multiple songs, in Spanish (the tournament's official language) and English (the main language of the host country), were used for the tournament. A customized version of "

Puntería "Puntería" (English: "Aim") is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira and American singer and rapper Cardi B. It was released on 22 March 2024 through Sony Music Latin as the sixth single from Shakira's twelfth studio album, ''Las Mujeres ...

" by Colombian singer

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...

, who performed in the halftime show in the

, served as the Spanish-language official song of the tournament, with it also being used for

TUDN TUDN (pronounced tu-de-ene; formerly called Univision Deportes Network) is a Mexican Spanish language sports channel. Owned by TelevisaUnivision, it is an extension of the company's sports division of the same name, with TUDN the acronym of Tel ...

's coverage.

Controversies and incidents

Pitch quality

The tournament's pitch dimensions and grass surface was met with significant controversy amongst fans, players, and commentators alike. The smaller pitch sizes in the venues of the tournament, with most of them being used for

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

, measured by , compared to FIFA's standard of by , was reported to likely influence the dynamics of the game, leading to more closely contested matches. In addition, grass cultivated in specially selected nurseries was attached to plastic layers that adhered to the field's surface. It was transported by truck and laid down with meticulous attention to detail, considering factors like watering, sunlight, and the delivery routes of the trucks, according to a statement issued by CONMEBOL. Frederico Nantes, CONMEBOL's director of competitions, stated that the dimensions and capacity of soccer-specific MLS venues influenced the decision to restrict their usage during the tournament. Factors such as venue size, travel distances between cities, and infrastructure were carefully evaluated before CONMEBOL concluded that the use of artificial turf was unavoidable, despite player concerns about that playing surface. After the inaugural match of the tournament, Argentina vs Canada at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Argentina head coach

Lionel Scaloni Lionel Sebastián Scaloni (, ; born 16 May 1978) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of the Argentina national team. Under his leadership, Argentina achieved the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Scalon ...

and first-choice goalkeeper

called the newly installed grass surface a "disaster" in a post-game interview. "They knew seven months ago that we'd play here and they changed the field two days ago," Scaloni said. "It's not an excuse, but this isn't a good field. Sincerely, the field is not apt for these kinds of players. We gave not necessarily a good game, but a game according to the pitch and what the opponent proposed. We couldn't do much more with the conditions of the pitch." Martínez added on to Scaloni's comments by saying the pitch was, "Very bumpy. We must improve in this aspect; otherwise, Copa América will always appear at a lower level than the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

." After Peruvian player

Luis Advíncula Luis Jan Piers Advíncula Castrillón (; born 2 March 1990) is a Peruvian professional footballer who plays for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors and the Peru national team. A quick and offensive right-back, he can also play as a r ...

's achilles injury during his side's match against Chile, Peru head coach

Jorge Fossati Jorge Daniel Fossati Lurachi (born 22 November 1952 in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan football (soccer), football manager and former player who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He is the current manager of Peruvian club Cl ...

cited AT&T Stadium's unsatisfactory field as a potential reason for his injury: "It came out of nowhere. I realize that this is a grass field today but it's not normal grass. It's not grass that's born, and grows aturally It's a grass they bring in from elsewhere. That can be a bit of a harder surface and it can affect you in that exact place he Achilles"

Vinícius Júnior Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior (; born 12 July 2000), commonly known as Vinícius Júnior or Vini Jr., is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for La Liga ...

Kamal Miller Kamal Anthony Miller (born May 16, 1997) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers and the Canada national team. Early life Born in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Mill ...

, and Chile's coach

Ricardo Gareca Ricardo Alberto Gareca Nardi (; born 10 February 1958), nicknamed ''el Tigre'' and ''el Flaco'' ("Tiger " and "Slim"), is an Argentine football manager and former player. He was recently the manager of the Chile national team. During his play ...

were among other notable figures who expressed their concerns about the field conditions. "We started the project in June, when traveling to analyze fields and watch games here, and in November, we began inspections in all stadiums and all training centers," Maristela Kuhn, CONMEBOL's agricultural engineer, said. "Reports were generated with recommendations of everything that had to be done. We had meetings with the agronomists and programming. With a special technology, we had all the grass plantations defined."

High ticket prices

There were concerns about overpriced tickets, with many fans feeling that the costs were excessive compared to previous tournaments. This sparked discussions about accessibility and the overall affordability of attending matches. Ticket resale markets, both official and unofficial, were prevalent in the United States. Statistics on resale tickets revealed significant price increases; according to TickPick, the average purchase price for the 2024 Copa América group stage was $187, which marked a 61% rise from 2016, when it was $116. The most expensive group stage ticket was for the match between Argentina and Peru, with average purchase price for the match reached $478. For the

, tickets were priced anywhere from $1,300 to $7,000 through websites such as

Ticketmaster Ticketmaster Entertainment, LLC is an American ticket sales and distribution company based in Beverly Hills, California, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010, it merged with Live Nation under the name Live Nation Ente ...

and

SeatGeek SeatGeek is a mobile-focused ticket platform that enables users to Ticket exchange, buy and sell tickets for live sports, concerts, and theater events. SeatGeek allows both mobile app and desktop users to browse events, view interactive color-cod ...

. As a result, several matches saw low attendance.

Referee management

The tournament was met with several poor refereeing incidents, the most notable of which included the United States vs Uruguay match; Uruguay's Mathías Olivera scored the only goal of the match in the 66th minute, but appeared to be offside when the ball was flicked on, yet a prolonged VAR review upheld the goal without summoning the match referee, Kevin Ortega, to the video monitor. Replays revealed a marginal overlap between Olivera's position and the foot of United States defender Chris Richards, potentially keeping the Uruguayan onside. There were other contentious non-decisions during the match, but the most peculiar incident, aside from the goal, occurred in the 32nd minute, when Ortega reached for a yellow card to book Richards. Uruguay quickly took the free kick, and just as Ortega was about to show the card, he raised his other arm signaling to play on.

Nahitan Nández Nahitan Michel Nández Acosta (born 28 December 1995) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays for Saudi Pro League club Al-Qadsiah and the Uruguay national team. A versatile player, Nández can play as a central midfielder, right-ba ...

found himself through on goal but failed to score. Members of the United States team were very disappointed in the overall outcome of the match, particularly

Christian Pulisic Christian Mate Pulisic (born September 18, 1998) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for club AC Milan and the United States men's national soccer team, United States natio ...

, who was seen showing his frustration to Ortega throughout the match, with Ortega refusing to shake Pulisic's hand after the final whistle, and head coach

Gregg Berhalter Gregg Matthew Berhalter (, ; born August 1, 1973) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is the current head coach and director of football for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire, a role he assumed following the end of the 2024 s ...

stated in a post-game interview, "I don't understand it. You know, I feel like I know the rule pretty well. I feel like we had the pictures that are showing how the rule could be interpreted and it's an offside goal." Another match that involved questionable referee decisions was the Brazil vs Colombia match, when Venezuelan referee Jesús Valenzuela denied a penalty in the 42nd minute for

, to which CONMEBOL, in a statement after the match, acknowledged that a critical VAR mistake was made.

Uruguay vs Colombia match altercation

In the aftermath of the semi-final match between Uruguay and Colombia, Uruguay forward

Darwin Núñez Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro (; born 24 June 1999) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and the Uruguay national football team ...

was seen getting involved in a confrontation with fans of Colombia in the stadium stands. The altercation reportedly took place near where family members and friends of the Uruguay team were situated, with CONMEBOL later announcing it would investigate the incident. The altercation was highly condemned. Two days after the match, Uruguay's head coach

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning 'The Madman Bielsa'; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional Association football, football manager who is the current manager of the Uruguay national football team ...

, in a press conference interview, stated, "You know whose responsibility it is to protect the fans in the stands. You have to ask me whether the players have received an apology from those responsible for safeguarding security. The players reacted as any human being would have done if they saw that there was no escape or prevention and they were attacking their wife, mother, or baby." The Uruguayan players' involvement with the Colombian fans was supported by others, particularly from members of the Argentine national team. When interviewed about the situation, coach

commented, "The images were very upsetting, and I believe anyone in that situation would have acted the same way." Goalkeeper

likened the altercations to a similar incident at a

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

match between Argentina and Brazil in November 2023; "I had family members in the stands close to what took place, watching the young people and women being beaten with clubs (by the Brazilian police). It was terrible to witness that. I wouldn't claim that I would do the same thing (fight with the fans), but I am supporting with the Uruguayan players, I think we need to improve security a bit more. When you see women or your parents being hit, obviously with Darwin and (Mathias) Olivera, players that I know personally, it's a very sad thing to see." Colombian midfielder Juan Fernando Quintero also described the event as upsetting, "It's sad what happened and the people are not to blame. We don't want these kinds of things to happen when there's football. Nobody wants violence. Aggressive people who don't enjoy football shouldn't be in the stadiums."

Argentina vs Colombia ticketless fans

During the

between Argentina and Colombia, thousands of ticketless fans rushed the stadium gates amidst major crowd congestion, resulting in CONMEBOL delaying the start time three times, first from 8:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., then to 8:45 p.m., and finally to 9:22 p.m. The families of several Argentina players found themselves delayed at the gate. For example, the mother of

Alexis Mac Allister Alexis Mac Allister (born 24 December 1998) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and the Argentina national football team, Argentina national team. Mac Alli ...

stated in an interview that "He was worried and called us constantly to check on us, saying he would stay at the gate until we could get in." Many of the areas and equipment such as escalators were damaged. Some fans were seen trying to enter the stadium through the ventilation system, and some people suffered medical issues from the heat and

crowd crush Crowd collapses and crowd crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When numbers are up to about five people per square meter, the environment may feel cramped but manageable; when nu ...

. Many ticketed fans were prevented from entering the stadium, leading to some seeking refunds.

CONMEBOL's sanctions and Shakira's halftime performance

Several coaches have been sanctioned and received a one-match ban by CONMEBOL after returning to the pitch later than the given fifteen minutes during their matches, including Lionel Scaloni during Argentina's match against Canada in the group stage, in which Canada's coach

Jesse Marsch Jesse Alan Marsch ( ; born November 8, 1973) is an American professional association football, soccer coach and former player who is the head coach of the Canada men's national soccer team, Canada men's national team. Marsch played 14 seasons ...

questioned, "I wish the referees would manage that. rgentinahad that time to prepare how they wanted to play against us in the second half, which — if we would have known ahead of time that we could have an extra 10 minutes, then we could have prepared some things more", Uruguay's Marcelo Bielsa during their game with Bolivia, and Mexico's head coach

Jaime Lozano Jaime Arturo "Jimmy" Lozano Espín (born 29 September 1979) is a Mexican professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the current head coach of Liga MX club C.F. Pachuca, Pachuca. ...

during Mexico's match against Jamaica in Group B as the Jamaican players were waiting on the soccer field. Lozano later admitted he and his team were reviewing tactics, "I don't know if it's unfair. But we went through four or five plays, and I took too long. Yes, it's my responsibility. Normally we have some actions, some plays on the screen to correct, or to see what we are doing right. And there, I think I went a bit overboard." Colombia's head coach

Néstor Lorenzo Néstor Gabriel Lorenzo (born 26 February 1966) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a defender. He is the current head coach of the Colombia national team. Lorenzo played for Argentinos Juniors, A.S. Bari, Swindo ...

criticized CONMEBOL's decision to extend the length of the halftime break in the final by 10 minutes to accommodate

's halftime set. "When the rules change suddenly for both teams, when the pitch is bad for both sides or when the time to rest between halves is the same for both teams, I can't tell you if it's good or bad or who has an advantage. I don't understand it to be honest," he explained in a news conference. "I think the halftime for the final should be 15 minutes because those are the rules. And because we've been fined when we've walked back onto the pitch 16 minutes later. But now apparently, because there's going to be a concert, we'll be walking back out 20 to 25 minutes later. This could affect the players fitness. They could cool down too much. Those minutes of recovery in the dressing room, people don't understand what it takes to reach those levels."

Argentine celebrations

Following Argentina's victory in the

, a video live-streamed by

Enzo Fernández Enzo Jeremías Fernández (born 17 January 2001) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Chelsea and the Argentina national team. Primarily a central midfielder, he is also capable of playing as a defensive ...

on social media showed the Argentine players celebrating with alleged racist chants toward the French national team. The

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

announced it would be lodging a complaint with

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. Fernández's club Chelsea announced it would investigate the video. Some of Fernández's Chelsea teammates unfollowed him on all of his social media accounts, with his teammate Wesley Fofana described it as "uninhibited racism". Fernández later apologized for the incident. Argentina President

Javier Milei Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician and economist who has served as President of Argentina since 2023. Milei also served as a national deputy representing the City of Buenos Aires for the party La Libertad ...

congratulated the team for the victory. Many massive celebrations were held in Buenos Aires and Córdoba.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2024 Copa America Copa América tournaments International association football competitions hosted by the United States 2024 in South American football 2024 in American soccer

Copa America Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) was a United States law, law in the United States, United States of America, passed in 1998 with the declared purpose of ...

Host selection

Venues

Team base camps

Teams

Qualification

Draw

Seeding

Draw

Squads

Match officials

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third place play-off

Final

Statistics

Goalscorers

Discipline

Awards

Team of the Tournament

Marketing

Sponsorships

Merchandise

Broadcasting rights

Symbols

Mascot

Match ball

Music

Controversies and incidents

Pitch quality

High ticket prices

Referee management

Uruguay vs Colombia match altercation

Argentina vs Colombia ticketless fans

CONMEBOL's sanctions and Shakira's halftime performance

Argentine celebrations

See also

Notes

References

External links