The 46th Copa América gets underway in Brazil on Saturday 15th of June, with 12 teams looking to be crowned the best team in South America (even though Japan and Qatar are participating).
The format (three groups of four) sees eight teams progress to the knockout rounds – the first and second from each group, plus the two third-placed teams with the best record.
A significant twist has been added to this addition of the tournament, as when we reach the knockout rounds, there is no extra-time. If the result is a draw after 90 minutes, the game heads straight to penalties, which more than likely favours the weaker teams, as they would only have to soak up pressure for 90 – and not 120 – minutes.
Chile are the reigning champions, having won the last two finals (2015 and 2016) against Argentina on penalties, both after goalless draws, but the firm favourites this year are hosts Brazil. At the other end of the spectrum, Japan and Qatar are the two invitees, as Japan prepare for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, and Qatar looking to improve ahead of hosting the 2022 World Cup.
The tournament will be played at six stadiums across Brazil, with the final set to be hosted at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.
And there are plenty of storylines to sink your teeth into. With Cristiano Ronaldo lifting the inaugural Nations League title with Portugal this week, it’s Lionel Messi’s chance to respond as he attempts to finally hoist a major trophy with Argentina.
They haven’t won the Copa since 1993, and last time around the Barcelona superstar sensationally missed a spot kick in the final before announcing his retirement from the national team.
? Waiting for the #CopaAmerica like… pic.twitter.com/y6IQXJyhaa
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) June 10, 2019
WHO’S THERE?
Group A: Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru
Group B: Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, Qatar
Group C: Uruguay, Ecuador, Japan, Chile
?? @D_Ospina1
?? @LTorreira34Good luck, lads – we're right behind you ? pic.twitter.com/boecugVaQD
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) June 14, 2019
Full schedule (UK time)
Group stage
Saturday, June 15
Brazil vs Bolivia (1:30am)
Venezuela vs Peru (8pm)
Argentina vs Colombia (11pm)
Sunday, June 16
Paraguay vs Qatar (8pm)
Uruguay vs Ecuador (11pm)
Tuesday, June 18
Japan vs Chile (midnight)
Bolivia vs Peru (10:30pm)
Wednesday, June 19
Brazil vs Venezuela (1:30am)
Colombia vs Qatar (10:30pm)
Thursday, June 20
Argentina vs Paraguay (1:30am)
Friday, June 21
Uruguay vs Japan (midnight)
Saturday, June 22
Ecuador vs Chile (midnight)
Peru vs Brazil (8pm)
Bolivia vs Venezuela (8pm)
Sunday, June 23
Qatar vs Argentina (8pm)
Colombia vs Paraguay (8pm)
Tuesday, 25 June
Chile vs Uruguay (midnight)
Ecuador vs Japan (midnight)
Quarter-finals
Friday, June 28
QF1: Group A winner vs third in Group B/C (1:30am)
QF3: Group A runner-up vs Group B runner-up (8pm)
Saturday, June 29
QF2: Group B winner vs Group C runner-up (midnight)
QF4: Group C winner vs third in Group A/B (8pm)
Semi-finals
Wednesday, July 3
SF1: QF1 winner vs QF2 winner (1:30am)
Thursday, July 4
SF2: QF3 winner vs QF4 winner (1:30am)
Third-place play-off
Saturday, July 6
SF1 loser vs SF2 loser (8pm)
Final
Sunday, July 7
SF1 winner vs SF2 winner (8pm)
Glad to see @aguerosergiokun has amazing friends looking out for him with some mate at #CopaAmerica camp ?
?: (oh, you know) pic.twitter.com/kq9XQUgq15
— Manchester City US (@ManCityUS) June 12, 2019
FULL SQUADS
ARGENTINA
Goalkeepers: Franco Armani, Agustin Marchesin, Esteban Andrada
Defenders: Nicolas Otamendi, Ramiro Funes Mori, Marcos Acuna, Nicolas Tagliafico, German Pezzella, Renzo Saravia, Juan Foyth
Midfielders: Angel Di Maria, Roberto Pereyra, Giovani Lo Celso, Leandro Paredes, Rodrigo De Paul, Exequiel Palacios, Guido Rodriguez, Ivan Marcone
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Paulo Dybala, Lautaro Martinez, Matias Suarez
BRAZIL
Goalkeepers: Alisson, Ederson, Cassio
Defenders: Dani Alves, Fagner, Alex Sandro, Filipe Luis, Thiago Silva, Miranda, Marquinhos, Eder Militao
Midfielders: Casemiro, Fernandinho, Arthur, Allan, Lucas Paqueta, Philippe Coutinho
Forwards: Everton, David Neres, Richarlison, Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Jesus, Willian
BOLIVA
Goalkeepers: Carlos Lampe, Ruben Cordano, Javier Rojas
Defenders: Marvin Bejarano, Diego Bejarano, Luis Haquin, Adrian Jusino, Mario Cuellar, Saul Torres, Roberto Fernandez, Jose Mario Carrasco
Midfielders: Alejandro Chumacero, Raul Castro, Erwin Saavedra, Leonel Justiniano, Samuel Galindo, Fernando Saucedo, Diego Wayar, Paul Arano
Forwards: Marcelo Martins, Gilbert Alvarez, Rodrigo Ramallo, Leonardo Vaca
There are nine players from #LaLiga in Group C of the #CopaAmerica!
How many can you name? ?
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?? __________ pic.twitter.com/Pzygjms4hp— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) June 13, 2019
CHILE
Goalkeepers: Gabriel Arias, Brayan Cortes, Yerko Urra
Defenders: Gary Medel, Gonzalo Jara, Mauricio Isla, Jean Beausejour, Paulo Diaz, Guillermo Maripan, Igor Lichnovsky, Oscar Opazo
Midfielders: Arturo Vidal, Charles Aranguiz, Pedro Pablo Hernandez, Erick Pulgar, Diego Valdes, Esteban Pavez
Forwards: Alexis Sanchez, Eduardo Vargas, Jose Pedro Fuenzalida, Nicolas Castillo, Junior Fernandes, Angelo Sagal
COLOMBIA
Goalkeepers: David Ospina, Camilo Vargas, Alvaro Montero
Defenders: Cristian Zapata, Santiago Arias, Davinson Sanchez, Yerry Mina, William Tesillo, Cristian Borja, Stefan Medina, Jhon Lucumi
Midfielders: Juan Cuadrado, James Rodriguez, Edwin Cardona, Wilmar Barrios, Mateus Uribe, Jefferson Lerma, Gustavo Cuellar
Forwards: Radamel Falcao, Luis Muriel, Roger Martinez, Duvan Zapata, Luis Diaz
ECUADOR
Goalkeepers: Alexander Dominguez, Pedro Ortiz, Maximo Banguera
Defenders: Arturo Mina, Roberto Arboleda, Pedro Pablo Velasco, Cristian Ramirez, Xavier Arreaga, Jose Quintero, Beder Caicedo, Gabriel Achilier
Midfielders: Romario Ibarra, Renato Ibarra, Carlos Gruezo, Jefferson Intriago, Antonio Valencia, Ayrton Preciado, Jefferson Orejuela, Andres Chicaiza, Jhegson Mendez
Forwards: Carlos Garces, Angel Mena, Enner Valencia
JAPAN
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima, Ryosuke Kojima, Keisuke Osako
Defenders: Naomichi Ueda, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Tomoki Iwata, Ko Itakura, Daiki Sugioka, Teruki Hara, Daiki Suga, Yugo Tatsuta
Midfielders: Yuta Nakayama, Gaku Shibasaki, Shoya Nakajima, Takefusa Kubo, Tatsuya Ito, Koji Miyoshi, Kota Watanabe, Hiroki Abe, Taishi Matsumoto
Forwards: Shinji Okazaki, Daizen Maeda, Ayase Ueda
#CopaAmerica fever is rising! ?? https://t.co/EbQnBhp8Ta
— Manchester City US (@ManCityUS) June 14, 2019
PARAGUAY
Goalkeepers: Antony Silva, Roberto Junior Fernandez, Alfredo Aguilar
Defenders: Gustavo Gomez, Ivan Piris, Bruno Valdez, Junior Alonso, Fabian Balbuena, Juan Escobar, Santiago Arzamendia, Ivan Torres
Midfielders: Oscar Romero, Richard Ortiz, Rodrigo Rojas, Miguel Almiron, Celso Ortiz, Matias RojasForwards: Oscar Cardozo, Hernan Perez, Derlis Gonzalez, Federico Santander, Cecilio Dominguez, Juan Iturbe
PERU
Goalkeepers: Pedro Gallese, Carlos Caceda, Patricio Alvarez
Defenders: Luis Advincula, Carlos Zambrano, Miguel Trauco, Aldo Corzo, Alexander Callens, Miguel Araujo, Anderson Santamaria, Luis Abram
Midfielders: Yoshimar Yotun, Christian Cueva, Edison Flores, Renato Tapia, Christofer Gonzales, Jesus Pretell, Paolo Hurtado
Forwards: Jefferson Farfan, Paolo Guerrero, Andre Carillo, Raul Ruidiaz, Andy Polo
QATAR
Goalkeepers: Saad Al Sheeb, Youssef Hassan, Mohammed Al Bakri
Defenders: Tareq Salman, Abdulkarim Hassam, Hamed Ismael, , Tameem Al-Muhaza, Assim Madebo, Salem Alhajri, Ahmed Fathy, , Pedro Correira, Al Mahdi Ali, Bassam Husham
Midfielders: Boualem Khoukhi, Karim Boudiaf, Ali Afif, Abdulaziz Hatim, Abdullah Abdul Salam
Forwards: Akram Afif, Hassan Al Haydos, Almoez Ali, Ahmed Al Aaeldin, Ahmed Moein, Abdulaziz Al Ansari
URUGUAY
Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera, Martin Silva, Martin Campana
Defenders: Diego Godin, Jose Maria Gimenez, Sebastian Coates, Martin Caceres, Marcelo Sarrachi
Midfielders: Giovanni Gonzalez, Diego Laxalt, Lucas Torreira, Matias Vecino, Rodrigo Bentancur, Nahitan Nandez, Federico Valverde, Nicolas Lodeiro, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Gaston Pereiro
Forward: Edinson Cavani, Cristhian Stuani, Maximiliano Gomez, Jonathan Rodriguez, Luis Suarez
VENEZUELA
Goalkeepers: Wuilker Farinez, Rafael Romo, Joel Graterol
Defenders: Roberto Rosales, Mikel Villanueva, Rolf Feltscher, John Chancellor, Yordan Osorio, Ronald Hernandez, Luis Mago
Midfielders: Tomas Rincon, Luis Manuel Seijas, Arquimedes Figuera, Jhon Murillo, Darwin Machis, Junior Moreno, Adalberto Penaranda, Yangel Herrera, Luis Gonzalez, Jefferson Savarino
Forwards: Salomon Rondon, Josef Martinez, Fernando Aristeguieta