The 47th Copa America Championship is being organized by the South American Football Confederation and Argentina will host the month-long tournament from June 13 to July 10 this year. The South American football championship is recognized as one of the most prestigious football competitions after the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. So, there is a vast interest among fans all over the world regarding Copa America. Brazil is the defending champion, and Uruguay have the most trophy (15) in the competition's history. So, things you need to know about Copa America 2021 are discussed in this article.     

Why Copa America 2021 is delayed for a year?

The tournament was supposed to take place from June 12 to July 12, 2020. But like other sporting events around the world, this competition also had to postpone due to the outbreak of coronavirus. The South American football federation (CONMEBOL) declared on March 17, 2020, that the tournament would be postponed for a year because of the COVID-19 outbreak across the continent.

The novel coronavirus in the South American continent started affecting sporting events from March and a number of tournaments were deferred for later dates. Similarly, CONMEBOL federation had to postpone the Copa Libertadores. On the other side, FIFA also suspended the first two rounds of South American qualifying for the Qatar World Cup 2022.

In the same month, the South American Football Federation confirmed that the Copa America would not be held as planned due to the risk of covid-19 infection. Instead, the tournament will therefore take place in June and July of 2021.

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In Argentina, where will the matches take place?

Initially, the 2021 South American Championships were to be co-hosted by Colombia and Argentina. Colombia eventually withdrew its names as organizers owing to political unrest. As a result, Argentina will be hosting the Copa America tournament all alone.

Three or four more venues may be added to the four that have already been confirmed. The tournament will be held between the middle of June and the middle of July. The following cities so far have been confirmed to host the matches of the tournament: Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and Santiago del Estero.

The following stadiums have been confirmed to host the matches:

Estadio Monumental: minimum 5 matches

Estadio Malvinas Argentinas: minimum 3 matches

Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes: minimum 3 matches

Estadio Único: minimum 2 matches 

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Who will play who in the group phase?

The format of the tournament is that the top four teams from each group will secure the quarterfinals. After that, the best two teams will play the final after going through two more phases of the knockout stage.   

Let's take a quick look at the two groups

 Prize Money for the Copa America 2021

The overall prize money for the event is estimated to be around $20 million. As soon as the teams reach the knockout stage, they will be awarded large sums of money.

If a team makes it to the quarterfinals, they will get $1.5 million. The fourth-place team will receive $2.5 million, while the third-place team will receive $3 million. Meanwhile, the runner-up will receive $3.5 million and the champion team will get $6.5 million.   

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Bottom Line

The information provided above includes things you need to know about Copa America 2021. The Copa America Championship will be held after resolving all of the challenges caused by the pandemic coronavirus. Spectators may or may not be permitted inside the stadium depending on the state of covid-19 across the continent. The tournament committee is devoted to following the health regulations in order to limit the danger of coronavirus infection. Hopefully, the tournament will be well-organized.