United States to host 2024 Copa América soccer tournament

The United States will host the 2024 edition of the Copa América soccer tournament, the championship for South American national teams, giving the U.S. men’s soccer team and other North American nations a huge boost on the road to the 2026 World Cup.

It will be the first time the event has come here since 2016, when the U.S. hosted a special centennial edition of the tournament. That wasn’t just the first time it was played in the U.S., it was the first time it was played anywhere outside South America.

Last November, Ecuador’s government said the country wouldn’t be able to host as scheduled in 2024. That set off immediate speculation about where the tournament could move to, and within weeks, the U.S. was floated as a candidate. The three co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup — the U.S., Canada, and Mexico — won’t have to qualify for the tournament, significantly reducing the number of games that matter before the tournament.

Earlier this month, U.S. Soccer Federation CEO JT Batson told The Inquirer that he’d been in meetings in Miami, where Concacaf is headquartered, and hinted that this was why.

“We’ve been working on this for quite some time to ensure that our team is playing against really good opponents consistently and in environments that that are competitive,” he said.

» READ MORE: U.S. Soccer's CEO was in Copa América planning meetings earlier this month

Batson praised Concacaf for being “really, really good partners” in tackling “the challenges Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. have in terms of competitive environments for the next three-and-a-half years.”

As was the case in 2016, the 2024 event will have an expanded field: the 10 teams of the South American confederation and six teams from Concacaf, which covers North and Central America. Concacaf’s initial statement said its six teams will qualify through the 2023-24 edition of its Nations League tournament, which is expected to start in the fall.

A Concacaf spokesperson told The Inquirer that the U.S. will not get in automatically as host; it will have to qualify like every other team from this region.

There were 10 host cities in 2016, including Philadelphia. We’ll see how many get to host this time and how many of the 12 U.S. cities that will host 2026 World Cup games — Philadelphia is one of them — are included.

One source with knowledge of the matter told The Inquirer that the Eagles and Philadelphia officials already are involved in early discussions to bring games to Lincoln Financial Field.

Later Friday, PHL Sports executive director Larry Needle said, “We were very excited to hear today’s news about Copa América returning to the U.S. in 2024. ... We anticipate that our selection as a FIFA World Cup city will lead to a number of tremendous new opportunities both before and after 2026.”

He also noted that city officials are “incredibly proud of the soccer destination that Philadelphia has become and are constantly working with our local partners to find new event opportunities that will resonate with our great fans.”

Fox Sports has the Copa América’s English broadcast rights. It’s not clear yet who has the Spanish rights. Univision aired the last Copa América in 2021, won by Lionel Messi’s Argentina.

» READ MORE: The Linc might look different during the 2026 World Cup. Here are some examples of how.

“It’s important to have these really big games,” U.S. national team and Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan said. “To be able to not only play in friendlies, but now play in games that matter — and Copa América matters. Being able to play Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay in big games is a big deal. … That pressure of playing in these games is exactly what we need for our program.”

Roldan was on last year’s World Cup team, though he did not play. Next month, his Sounders will become the first U.S. team to play in FIFA’s Club World Cup. If they win their quarterfinal, they’d play superpower Real Madrid in the semifinals.

That was all a faraway dream for the 27-year-old when he started his pro career in Seattle in 2015. The next summer, he was in the stands of his team’s stadium when Messi played against Bolivia there.

“That was a completely different level than what I’ve seen,” he said. “Being able to experience that firsthand was pretty incredible.”

The joint Copa América wasn’t the only tournament announced in this deal. There’s a women’s soccer event too. Concacaf’s 2024 women’s Gold Cup, which the United States will host, will welcome the top four teams from the 2022 women’s Copa América: Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Paraguay. The first three of those will be at this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

With the Paris Olympics on the 2024 women’s soccer calendar in late July and early August, it’s likely the Gold Cup will be in early summer. There will be 12 teams involved. The U.S. already has qualified by winning last year’s Concacaf women’s championship. The other seven slots will be filled through playoffs that start this fall.

Lastly, there will be a Final Four-style men’s club tournament in 2024 with two top teams from each confederation, played at a central location. Officials hope it will be an annual event. Concacaf will send its Champions League finalists; CONMEBOL hasn’t finalized its plan yet.

The time of year for the event isn’t set yet, nor is the timing of qualification. So, for example, we don’t know if this year’s Champions League finalists or next year’s would make the 2024 showcase. If it turns out that this year’s finalists would qualify, then the Union could be one of those teams. They’re in the 16-club field, with the tournament set to start on March 7.

» READ MORE: The Union will face El Salvador’s Alianza FC to start the 2023 Concacaf Champions League