The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to 10 July 2021.[2] It was originally scheduled to take place from 12 June to 12 July 2020 in Argentina and Colombia as the 2020 Copa América. On 17 March 2020, CONMEBOL announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South America, the tournament had been postponed for a year, in conjunction with UEFA's decision to also postpone UEFA Euro 2020 to 2021.[3] This was the first time since 1991 where no guest nation took part in the tournament.
On 20 May 2021, Colombia was removed as co-host amid ongoing protests against President Iván Duque Márquez, and Argentina was then removed on 30 May due to COVID-19 issues. The following day CONMEBOL confirmed Brazil as the new host of the tournament.[4]
Hosts Brazil were the title holders, having won their ninth title in 2019, which they also hosted. Argentina won their fifteenth title after defeating Brazil 1–0 in the final, marking the first time Brazil failed to win the competition on home soil. Argentina secured a first senior trophy since the 1993 edition of the same tournament,[5] also equalling Uruguay's overall record of Copa América titles.[6] The title qualified Argentina to play the CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions in 2022 against Italy, winners of the UEFA Euro 2020.
Background
In March 2017, CONMEBOL reportedly proposed that the Copa América take place in 2020 as part of a calendar change.[7] Following the 2019 edition in Brazil, the quadrennial tournament would move back from odd to even years starting in 2020, with the following edition taking place in United States in 2024, having previously held the one-off Copa América Centenario in 2016, which celebrated the centenary of CONMEBOL and the Copa América.[8] This would move the tournament in line with the UEFA European Championship, which is also held in even years with a 2020 edition taking place.[9] On 18 September 2018, plans for a calendar change were confirmed by CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez after submitting an official request to FIFA.[10]
On 26 October 2018 at the FIFA Council meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, the request was approved for the Copa América to take place in even years, starting with the 2020 edition.[11] The tournament was originally scheduled to take place between 12 June and 12 July 2020, the same dates as UEFA Euro 2020.[12]
On 13 March 2019, CONMEBOL announced Argentina and Colombia as co-hosts of the 2020 event after the United States bid was rejected.[13][14] It was officially announced the same day when CONMEBOL approved of the joint hosting. It was officially awarded on 9 April 2019 at the CONMEBOL Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[15]
On 20 May 2021, due to security concerns amid protests against the government of President Iván Duque Márquez, Colombia was dropped as co-host of the tournament. On 30 May 2021, Argentina later dropped as co-host of the tournament due to COVID-19 travel restriction.[16]
On 20 May 2021, CONMEBOL announced that Colombia would be withdrawn as host due to protests. Two day later, Argentina went under a nine-day lockdown due to soaring COVID-19 cases, which included the suspension of all domestic football.[20][21] On 30 May 2021, CONMEBOL announced that due to the current circumstances in the country, Copa América would be pulled from Argentina, and that they were looking at bids from other countries to host the tournament. This reportedly included a bid from the United States, after that bid was initially rejected.[22][23] It was reported that the Argentine government had made increasing demands for biosecurity protocols that CONMEBOL found unreasonable.[16] On 31 May Brazil was confirmed as the new host.[4]
All matches in the tournament were held behind closed doors,[2][24] except the final, where 10% of Maracanã Stadium's capacity was allowed for guests with a negative COVID-19 test before entering.[25] All delegations, each limited to 65 members, were vaccinated, as were the match officials.[26]
On 15 March 2021, the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata in La Plata venue was ruled out as a result of the schedule shortening.[34]
Colombia would have hosted the North Zone group, while Argentina would have hosted the South Zone group. Each country would also have hosted two quarter-finals and one semi-final. The third place match and final would have been played in Colombia.[35]
Teams
All ten CONMEBOL national teams participated in the competition, divided into two geographical zones for the group stage.[36]
In June 2019, the CONMEBOL Council officially approved the participation of Australia and Qatar as the two invited teams, who were the previous two winners of the AFC Asian Cup.[37] Australia would have made their debut appearance in the Copa América, while Qatar would be making their second appearance, having participated in the previous edition. However, on 23 February 2021, Football Australia and the Qatar Football Association announced their withdrawal from the tournament, due to the postponement of the remainder of the AFC second round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification to June 2021.[38][39] Following the withdrawals, a CONMEBOL spokesperson said that there was a calendar issue that stopped Australia and Qatar, that he had already seen interest from other national teams to play as guests in their place and that he would like to have 12 teams. The spokesperson added that if no replacements were found, the tournament would be played with 10 teams (for the first time since 1991).[40]
Each team had to submit a list of up to 28 players (expanded from 23), including at least three goalkeepers.[41]
Draw
The team allocations of the CONMEBOL members, divided into North Zone and South Zone, were announced on 9 April 2019.[42] The group stage draw was held on 3 December 2019, 19:30 COT (UTC−5), in Cartagena.[43] Original co-hosts Argentina and Colombia were automatically allocated to positions A1 and B1, respectively. After the draw, the zones for the two invited nations and the positions of teams within the groups were as follows:[44]
On 2 June 2021, Argentina and Brazil were allocated to positions A1 and B1, respectively, in the competition calendar update.[45]
Match officials
On 21 April 2021, CONMEBOL announced a total of 14 referees, 22 assistant referees, 16 video assistant referees (VAR), and 10 support referees appointed for the tournament.[46][47] This edition featured the participation of a Spanish refereeing team as part of the memorandum of understanding signed by CONMEBOL and UEFA in February 2020, which included a referee exchange programme.[48]
On 5 June 2021, Uruguayan video assistant referees Leodán González and Daniel Fedorczuk were replaced by Andrés Cunha, also from Uruguay. In addition, Juan Soto from Venezuela and Jhon Alexander León from Colombia replaced the video assistant referee Nicolás Gallo and the assistant referee Miguel Roldán respectively, both from Colombia.[49] Nicolás Gallo and Miguel Roldán had previously been suspended indefinitely as a result of their performance in the match between Uruguay and Paraguay valid for the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers.[50][51]
Later, Leodán González and Daniel Fedorczuk were summoned again to join the Uruguayan referee team.[citation needed]
The original schedule and kick-off times for the tournament were announced on 3 December 2019 and 4 March 2020 respectively.[52][53] On 17 March 2020, the tournament was postponed until 2021 and the new schedule was announced on 13 August 2020.[54][55] Following the withdrawals of Qatar and Australia, the schedule was shortened and it was announced on 15 March 2021.[56][57] The final match schedule with Brazil as host country was announced on 2 June 2021.[58]
All match times listed are in BRT (UTC−3), as listed by CONMEBOL. Cuiabá is located in a different time zone, AMT (UTC−4), so the local time is also given.
The top four teams of each group advanced to the quarter-finals.
Tiebreakers
The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows (Regulations Article 10.6):[41]
Points obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat);
In the knockout stage, if a match was tied after 90 minutes:[41]
In the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and third place play-off, extra time would not be played, and the match would be decided by a penalty shoot-out (Regulations Article 9.3).
In the final, extra time would be played. If still tied after extra time, the match would be decided by a penalty shoot-out (Regulations Article 9.4).
A customized version of "La Gozadera" by Cuban duo Gente de Zona was revealed as the official song of the tournament, ahead of its official reveal on 11 May.[63]
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