How does the Copa America format work?

June and July are going to be dream months for football lovers across the globe as Copa America and the European Championship are scheduled to take place almost simultaneously. In fact, the finals of the two tournaments will be held on the same day, i.e., July 15!

Furthermore, this time, the Copa America will consist of 16 teams unlike the previous editions where only ten nations participated. Therefore, there will be more groups, more games and more reasons to enjoy the footballing carnival.

Lionel Messi’s Argentina will start the tournament as favorites along with Brazil and Uruguay. However, expect the big names to be thoroughly challenged by the so-called ‘dark horses’ as they will try every trick in the book to cause a major upset!

How does the format of Copa America 2024 work?

Copa America 2024 will consist of 16 teams divided into four groups. Out of them, 10 are from CONMEBOL while the remaining six are from CONCACAF.

Each team will play members of their group once in the group stages. In the group stage fixtures, each team will earn 3 points for a win while a loss will give them zero points. A draw would award both the teams one point each.

After all the group stage matches are over, top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.

In the knockout stages, draws will cease to exist. If the scores are tied after the regulation time, the game will go to extra time of two 15-minute halves. Failure to separate the two teams after extra time will result in the match going to penalties.

The winners of the quarter-finals will play each other in the semi-finals. After the semi-finals, the two winners will play each other in the final of Copa America 2024 on July 15.