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
	TEAM	GP	W	D	L	GD	POINTS
	Colombia	1	1	0	0	2	3
	Paraguay	1	0	1	0	0	1
	Costa Rica	1	0	1	0	0	1
	USA	1	0	0	1	-2	0

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
DATE				LOCATION	TIME	TV
Fri., June 3	USA (0)	vs.	Colombia (2)	Levi’s Stadium	9:30 p.m.	FS1
Sat., June 4	Costa Rica (0)	vs.	Paraguay (0)	Camping World Stadium	5:00 p.m.	FOX
Tue., June 7	USA	vs.	Costa Rica	Soldier Field	8:00 p.m.	FS1
Tue., June 7	Colombia	vs.	Paraguay	Rose Bowl	10:30 p.m.	FS1
Sat., June 11	Paraguay	vs.	USA	Lincoln Financial	7:00 p.m.	FS1
Sat., June 11	Costa Rica	vs.	Colombia	NRG Stadium	9:00 p.m.	FS2

COPA AMERICA GROUP B
	TEAM	GP	W	D	L	GD	POINTS
	Peru	1	1	0	0	1	3
	Brazil	1	0	1	0	0	1
	Ecuador	1	0	1	0	0	1
	Haiti	1	0	0	1	-1	0

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
DATE				LOCATION	TIME	TV
Sat., June 4	Haiti (0)	vs.	Peru (1)	CenturyLink Field	7:30 p.m.	FS2
Sat., June 4	Brazil (0)	vs.	Ecuador (0)	Rose Bowl	10:00 p.m.	FS1
Wed., June 8	Brazil	vs.	Haiti	Camping World Stadium	7:30 p.m.	FS1
Wed., June 8	Ecuador	vs.	Peru	Univ. of Phoenix	10:00 p.m.	FS2
Sun., June 12	Haiti	vs.	Ecuador	MetLife Stadium	6:30 p.m.	FS2
Sun., June 12	Peru	vs.	Brazil	Gillette Stadium	8:30 p.m.	FS1

COPA AMERICA GROUP C
	TEAM	GP	W	D	L	GD	POINTS
	Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Uruguay	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Jamaica	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Venezuela	0	0	0	0	0	0

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
DATE				LOCATION	TIME	TV
Sun., June 5	Jamaica	vs.	Venezuela	Soldier Field	5:00 p.m.	FOX
Sun., June 5	Mexico	vs.	Uruguay	Univ. of Phoenix	8:00 p.m.	FS1
Thu., June 9	Uruguay	vs.	Venezuela	Lincoln Financial	7:30 p.m.	FS1
Thu., June 9	Mexico	vs.	Jamaica	Rose Bowl	10:00 p.m.	FS1
Mon., June 13	Venezuela	vs.	Mexico	NRG Stadium	8:00 p.m.	FS1
Mon., June 13	Jamaica	vs.	Uruguay	Levi’s Stadium	10:00 p.m.	FS1

COPA AMERICA GROUP D
	TEAM	GP	W	D	L	GD	POINTS
	Argentina	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Chile	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Panama	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Bolivia	0	0	0	0	0	0

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
DATE				LOCATION	TIME	TV
Mon., June 6	Panama	vs.	Bolivia	Camping World Stadium	7:00 p.m.	FS1
Mon., June 6	Argentina	vs.	Chile	Levi’s Stadium	10:00 p.m.	FS1
Fri., June 10	Chile	vs.	Bolivia	Gillette Stadium	7:00 p.m.	FOX
Fri., June 10	Argentina	vs.	Panama	Soldier Field	9:30 p.m.	FOX
Tue., June 14	Panama	vs.	Chile	Lincoln Financial	8:00 p.m.	FS1
Tue., June 14	Bolivia	vs.	Argentina	CenturyLink Field	10:00 p.m.	FS1

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

QUARTERFINALS
MATCH	DATE				LOCATION	TIME	TV
Match 25	Thu., June 16	Group A winner	vs.	Group B runner-up	CenturyLink Field	9:30 p.m.	FS1
Match 26	Fri., June 17	Group B winner	vs.	Group A runner-up	MetLife Stadium	8:00 p.m.	FS1
Match 27	Sat., June 18	Group D winner	vs.	Group C runner-up	Gillette Stadium	7:00 p.m.	FX
Match 28	Sat., June 18	Group C winner	vs.	Group D runner-up	Levi’s Stadium	10:00 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
MATCH	DATE				LOCATION	TIME	TV
Match 29	Tue., June 21	Match 25 winner	vs.	Match 27 winner	NRG Stadium	9:00 p.m.	FS1
Match 30	Wed., June 22	Match 26 winner	vs.	Match 28 winner	Soldier Field	8:00 p.m.	FS1

THIRD-PLACE MATCH
DATE				LOCATION	TIME	TV
Sat., June 25	Match 29 loser	vs.	Match 30 loser	Univ. of Phoenix	8:00 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
DATE				LOCATION	TIME	TV
Sun., June 26	Match 29 winner	vs.	Match 30 winner	MetLife Stadium	8:00 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