The continental tournament will have several novelties: double venue, two-zone format and two guests from Asia. The Format for Copa America will change: from 2020 it will be played every four years, played in even years and not in odd ones, as is currently the case. With this, it seeks to unify calendars with UEFA and match the breaks for most players.
While the 2019 edition was ending in Brazil, Conmebol confirmed that the next continental tournament will have an unprecedented joint performance between two countries that are not neighbours: Argentina and Colombia.
Organizing countries
While the strongest alternative seemed to be for the United States to host the event, which would be held in a format similar to the 2016 Copa America Centenario. Conmebol finally rejected that possibility. On March 13, 2019, after a meeting in Miami between Alejandro Dominguez and the ten member countries of the South American Confederation. It was confirmed that the headquarters would be in South America and that the countries that had already nominated their joint candidacy for the Copa America 2020 they were Argentina and Colombia. Almost a month later, the CONMEBOL Council formalised both countries as organizers.
During the FIFA council that elected Infantino as president for the second consecutive period, it was announced that the final decision regarding the country in which the final will be played would be taken at the Council meeting held on June 13. When the time comes, the decision was postponed again until June 27 when the president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, made it official that after speaking with Alejandro Domiínguez, president of Conmebol, the headquarters of the final will be the coffee country .
Copa America 2020 Stadiums
After the pre-selection of the most important stadiums in both countries, CONMEBOL formalized the elected Stadiums in below countries.
ARGENTINA
- Buenos Aires: Antonio Vespucio Liberti Monumental Stadium (66,000 spectators)
- Mendoza: Malvinas Argentinas Stadium (38,000 spectators)
- La Plata: Unique Stadium Ciudad de La Plata (43,000 spectators)
- Cordoba: Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium (57,000 spectators)
COLOMBIA
- Bogota: Nemesio Camacho Stadium ‘El Campín’
- Cali: Pascual Guerrero Stadium
- Medellin: Atanasio Girardot Stadium
- Barranquilla: Roberto Meléndez Metropolitan Stadium
New Format
The CONMEBOL Council decided to modify the format of the Copa América dispute for its 2020 edition. The continental contest next year will be held in two groups of six teams based in Argentina and Colombia, where the selections were grouped according to one criterion geographical (Group A is the South Zone and B, the North Zone). Meanwhile, the location of the two guests was defined by lottery.
Each hex will classify four teams for the final stage, consisting of the quarterfinal, semifinal and final matches. This new format implies the dispute of 38 matches, 12 more than in the previous format, with a minimum of five per selection.
Although there was speculation with the return of Mexico and the United States as the two invited teams, CONMEBOL confirmed in a statement that they will finally be Australia and Qatar, as the last champions of the Asian Cup.