With the Copa America 2021 competition about to take place, there will be a number of new audiences set to watch the tournament that have yet to witness what the best of South America have to offer outside of a FIFA World Cup competition.
The Copa America is the region’s equivalent to the Gold Cup in North America and Europe’s European Championships, with the tournament continuing to grow in stature with football fans all around the world.
However, it could be argued that the competition should not need to grow in stature, as it is the oldest competition for international teams in existence, with the Copa America having been competed for over a century.
Nonetheless, it still has the allure and grandeur that has made it incredibly popular throughout its existence. Here are just some facts that might not be known about the upcoming competition:
2021 Copa America was supposed to be the first edition to be co-hosted
Up until recently, both Argentina and Colombia were set to co-host the 2021 Copa America, however that has since changed due to the political unrest that is being suffered in Colombia at the moment.
CONMEBOL, who are the governing body for this competition, could still look to share the competition across other nations, but with such little time left until it starts, it would have to be considered a logistical nightmare at this stage. Those that manage to pick up regular pokie wins will probably bet against it from happening, though.
Interestingly, the United States of America is being touted as an option to solely host the competition; something they did in 2016 as they became the first country outside of South America to host it in the process.
The Copa America recently changed its schedule
Following the 2019 edition of the Copa America, the tournament was supposed to take place on years with even-ending numbers, however the world’s situation meant this could not happen last year, thus why we have a competition in 2021.
The 2024 Ecuador Copa America should still go ahead as scheduled, as CONMEBOL want to try and keep major tournaments take place at the same time, therefore potentially making clubs and players happier in the process.
No guest teams appearing for the first time since 1991
Qatar and Australia were supposed to take part in the 2021 Copa America this summer, however both have had to pull out. Guest nations have been used in the competition ever since 1991 to try and help give the tournament a standard format to follow, whilst also attracting potentially new audiences.