COPA AMERICA Coverage

The  2016 Copa America Centenario tournament got underway Friday with the opening match (USA-Colombia) and will conclude with the championship match at MetLife Stadium on June 26. The United States will host all 32 matches as 16 participating nations will battle to win the 100th celebratory edition of this historic South American tournament.

The 16 teams participating are broken into four groups of four teams, with the top two teams of each group advancing to the knockout stage.  Groups were drawn on Feb. 21. Let’s check out each group, along with the entire TV schedule for arguably the biggest soccer tournament on American soil since the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

COPA AMERICA CENTENARIO GROUP A
TEAMGPWDLGDPOINTS
Colombia110023
Paraguay101001
Costa Rica101001
USA1001-20

Jurgen Klinsmann has his hands full here, with arguably the toughest group of the tournament. I wouldn’t necessarily call it the “group of death” like everyone else, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the US finished last in this group.

Here’s the schedule for all Group A matches.

GROUP A MATCHES
DATELOCATIONTIMETV
Fri., June 3USA (0)vs.Colombia (2)Levi’s Stadium9:30 p.m.FS1
Sat., June 4Costa Rica (0)vs.Paraguay (0)Camping World Stadium5:00 p.m.FOX
Tue., June 7USAvs.Costa RicaSoldier Field8:00 p.m.FS1
Tue., June 7Colombiavs.ParaguayRose Bowl10:30 p.m.FS1
Sat., June 11Paraguayvs.USALincoln Financial7:00 p.m.FS1
Sat., June 11Costa Ricavs.ColombiaNRG Stadium9:00 p.m.FS2

COPA AMERICA GROUP B
TEAMGPWDLGDPOINTS
Peru110013
Brazil101001
Ecuador101001
Haiti1001-10

No Neymar, no problem. Or so we think. With the Barcelona star devoting his time with the Olympic squad, Brazil may have some bumps along the way. Ecuador got off to a red-hot start in the South American World Cup qualifiers and is currently second through six matches, scoring 13 of 18 possible points. Only Uruguay is ahead of Ecuador in the WCQ standings. Peru also gave a Neymar-less Brazil squad some fits in last year’s Copa America. That said, it would be stunning if Brazil crashed out of this tournament in the group stage.

Here are the scheduled matches for Group B.

GROUP B MATCHES
DATELOCATIONTIMETV
Sat., June 4Haiti (0)vs.Peru (1)CenturyLink Field7:30 p.m.FS2
Sat., June 4Brazil (0)vs.Ecuador (0)Rose Bowl10:00 p.m.FS1
Wed., June 8Brazilvs.HaitiCamping World Stadium7:30 p.m.FS1
Wed., June 8Ecuadorvs.PeruUniv. of Phoenix10:00 p.m.FS2
Sun., June 12Haitivs.EcuadorMetLife Stadium6:30 p.m.FS2
Sun., June 12Peruvs.BrazilGillette Stadium8:30 p.m.FS1

COPA AMERICA GROUP C
TEAMGPWDLGDPOINTS
Mexico000000
Uruguay000000
Jamaica000000
Venezuela000000

Mexico and Uruguay are the big favorites to advance out of this group, with both sides clashing right off the bat on June 5 in Phoenix. The winner of that match will likely be the winner of the group. If that game finishes in a draw, it’ll be all about racking up the highest goal differential against the minnows, Jamaica and Venezuela.

Here’s what’s on slate for Group C.

GROUP C MATCHES
DATELOCATIONTIMETV
Sun., June 5Jamaicavs.VenezuelaSoldier Field5:00 p.m.FOX
Sun., June 5Mexicovs.UruguayUniv. of Phoenix8:00 p.m.FS1
Thu., June 9Uruguayvs.VenezuelaLincoln Financial7:30 p.m.FS1
Thu., June 9Mexicovs.JamaicaRose Bowl10:00 p.m.FS1
Mon., June 13Venezuelavs.MexicoNRG Stadium8:00 p.m.FS1
Mon., June 13Jamaicavs.UruguayLevi’s Stadium10:00 p.m.FS1

COPA AMERICA GROUP D
TEAMGPWDLGDPOINTS
Argentina000000
Chile000000
Panama000000
Bolivia000000

A rematch of last year’s Copa America final right away will have soccer fans drooling. Chile, the hosts of last year’s tournament,  took down Lionel Messi and Co. in penalty kicks. Argentina has since then bounced back with a revenge 2-1 win in Santiago back in March during the World Cup qualifiers. Like the Mexico-Uruguay clash in Group C, this match will dictate how the rest of the group shakes out.

Here are the scheduled matches for Group D.

GROUP D MATCHES
DATELOCATIONTIMETV
Mon., June 6Panamavs.BoliviaCamping World Stadium7:00 p.m.FS1
Mon., June 6Argentinavs.ChileLevi’s Stadium10:00 p.m.FS1
Fri., June 10Chilevs.BoliviaGillette Stadium7:00 p.m.FOX
Fri., June 10Argentinavs.PanamaSoldier Field9:30 p.m.FOX
Tue., June 14Panamavs.ChileLincoln Financial8:00 p.m.FS1
Tue., June 14Boliviavs.ArgentinaCenturyLink Field10:00 p.m.FS1

The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals, which will take place from June 16-18.

QUARTERFINALS
MATCHDATELOCATIONTIMETV
Match 25Thu., June 16Group A winnervs.Group B runner-upCenturyLink Field9:30 p.m.FS1
Match 26Fri., June 17Group B winnervs.Group A runner-upMetLife Stadium8:00 p.m.FS1
Match 27Sat., June 18Group D winnervs.Group C runner-upGillette Stadium7:00 p.m.FX
Match 28Sat., June 18Group C winnervs.Group D runner-upLevi’s Stadium10:00 p.m.FX

Teams will have approximately 4-5 days off in between the quarterfinals and the semifinals. The winners of each semifinal match will square off in the final. The losers face off in the third-place match.

SEMIFINALS
MATCHDATELOCATIONTIMETV
Match 29Tue., June 21Match 25 winnervs.Match 27 winnerNRG Stadium9:00 p.m.FS1
Match 30Wed., June 22Match 26 winnervs.Match 28 winnerSoldier Field8:00 p.m.FS1
THIRD-PLACE MATCH
DATELOCATIONTIMETV
Sat., June 25Match 29 loservs.Match 30 loserUniv. of Phoenix8:00 p.m.FX

This will be arguably the biggest championship soccer match on American soil since the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The final of that tournament was at the Rose Bowl. This year’s Cope America Centenario tournament final will take place in the East coast, at MetLife Stadium.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
DATELOCATIONTIMETV
Sun., June 26Match 29 winnervs.Match 30 winnerMetLife Stadium8:00 p.m.FS1

BETTING

Argentina
2.75
Brazil
6.50
Chile
8.00
Colombia
8.00
Mexico
9.00
Uruguay
10.00
U.S.A
19.00
Ecuador
21.00
Peru
34.00
Costa Rica
67.00
Paraguay
67.00
Bolivia
101.00
Venezuela
126.00
Jamaica
151.00
Panama
151.00
Haiti
751.00

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