The Following press release comes from CONCACAF and CONMEBOL.
Panama and Haiti Complete Copa America Centenario Field
Miami (Friday, January 8, 2016) – The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) confirmed this evening the completion of the field for the historic 2016 Copa America Centenario, to be played this June in stadiums across the United States. In matches contested in Panama City on Friday evening, Panama defeated Cuba and Haiti and Trinidad & Tobago for the last two of the Confederation’s six places in the once-in-a-lifetime event, which honors 100 years of the Copa America tournament, and will feature some of the world’s best teams and players competing from June 3-26, 2016.
Panama and Haiti join 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup champion Mexico, 2013 Gold Cup champion and host United States, reigning Central American Cup champion Costa Rica and 2014 Caribbean Cup Champion Jamaica in representing CONCACAF in the event. The Copa America Centenario also includes all 10 CONMEBOL teams, including world powerhouses Argentina and Brazil, which along with the United States and Mexico were announced as group seeds last month.
The remaining 12 participating nations – now including Panama and Haiti – will be sorted into the four groups at a public draw scheduled for February. Seeding for the draw will be based on the December 2015 FIFA World Rankings. Details of groups and procedures for the February draw will be announced in the coming days.
The groups will play a round-robin format, visiting cities across the U.S. in the first two weeks of June, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. The Copa America Centenario, as an official FIFA-sanctioned event, crowns the centennial champion of the world’s oldest national team tournament, and has been placed on FIFA’s international calendar, meaning stars like Argentina’s Leo Messi, Brazil’s Neymar and Colombia’s James Rodriguez are cleared to play in this summer’s event.
Main Photo: Chile Celebrates winning the 2015 Copa America.
