Copa America semifinals in New Jersey and Charlotte, among 14 U.S. cities hosting next summer

Mon, Dec 4, 2023
Soccer News (AP)

ATLANTA (AP) - Fourteen U.S. cities will play host to Copa America next summer, with the semifinals at East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Charlotte, North Carolina, ahead of the July 14 championship in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The governing bodies of South America and of North and Central America and the Caribbean made the announcement Monday, filling in the cities that will be part of the 16-team tournament.

The quarterfinals will be held July 4 at NRG Stadium in Houston; July 5 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and July 6 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The semifinals will be in New Jersey's MetLife Stadium on July 9 and Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium the next day. The third-place game will be in Charlotte on July 13, on the eve of the final.

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The draw is set for Thursday in Miami.

CONMEBOL and CONCACAF announced last month that the June 20 opening game will be at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, while South Florida's Hard Rock Stadium landed the final.

The other sites revealed Monday: SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California; Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California; Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Florida; Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas; and two facilities in the Kansas City metro area: Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri and smaller Children's Mercy Park on the Kansas side of the border.

Copa America is expanding in 2024, with six teams from North America joining the usual 10 nations from South America that compete for the continental championship. The format mirrors the Copa America Centenario in 2016, the only previous time the tournament was staged outside of South America.

For the 2024 edition, the CONMEBOL regulars will be joined by six CONCACAF qualifiers: the United States, Mexico, Jamaica and Panama plus the winner of March 23 playoff games between Costa Rica and Honduras, and between Canada and Trinidad and Tobago.

Two group-round games each will be played at MetLife Stadium (June 25 and 27); Hard Rock Stadium (June 23 and 29); Exploria Stadium (June 29 and July 1); Mercedes-Benz Stadium (the June 20 opener and June 27); AT&T Stadium (June 21 and 23); NRG Stadium (June 22 and 24); Q2 Stadium (June 20 and July 2); State Farm Stadium (June 28 and 30); Allegiant Stadium (June 26 and 28); SoFi Stadium (June 24 and 26) and Levi's Stadium (June 22 and July 2).

Two groups games will also be played in the Kansas City area: June 25 at Children's Mercy Park and July 1 at Arrowhead Stadium.

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