Rio de Janeiro: Argentina and Colombia are set to jointly host the 2020 Copa America, CONMEBOL - the South American football's governing body announced on Monday.
The tournament is set to begin on June 12 next year with the opening match to be played at Argentina whereas the finals are expected to be played at Colombia. Colombia will host the finals of the Copa America after a gap of 19 years since the 2001 Copa America.
The CONMEBOL Copa America 2020 will begin its new edition on June 12, 2020, in Argentina, and will crown the new continental champion in Colombia. The dates of the calendar and matches of the oldest tournament in South America will be announced later," CONMEBOL said in an official statement,
"The tournament, which counts for the first time in its history with double headquarters, will distribute its 38 matches between Colombia and Argentina with the aim of bringing South American football to all the fans of the continent. Thus, in each of the venues, the parties of the North Zone or South Zone groups will be held, as well as two-quarter matches and one of the semifinals," the statement added.
This will be the first time that the tournament will be held in two countries. A total of 38 matches will be played in the tournament.
All the teams will be divided into two groups. The groups are as follows:
Northern Zone: Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and one of the invited countries.
South Zone: Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and one of the invited countries.
Qatar and Australia, champions of the last two editions of the Asian Cup, will be participating as guest countries in the tournament, as announced by the Confederation Council.