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The United States may be headed to Brazil next June. According to a report from Globo Esporte, the USMNT and Mexico may join the field of 16 participants for the 2019 Copa America.
GLOBOESPORTE:
— Seleção Brasileira (@BrazilStat) March 16, 2018
16 teams will participate in Copa América next year. 3 from CONCACAF and 3 from AFC. Mexico and USA are in. Qatar, South Korea, Japan, Australia and China are the most likely candidates from Asia to have a go at being crowned the Champions of the American continent pic.twitter.com/mWVzM6f1lY
The report also claims that the Copa field would consist of the 10 CONMEBOL teams, 3 teams from CONCACAF, and 3 from Asia. Mexico and the USMNT are reported to be definitely in, with a 3rd team from CONCACAF joining them. The teams from Asia that are rumored to be under consideration include Australia, China, Japan, Qatar, and South Korea, of which 3 would be selected. Obviously, Qatar is the odd team among that group, but with the nation soon officially being on the clock to hosting the 2022 World Cup, a chance for strong competition to help prepare their squad is likely appealing to them.
For the United States, it would be a chance for competitive matches ahead of the 2019 Gold Cup, which is expected to take place next July. More opportunities for the young players in the MNT pool to play against top competition and improve will be welcome for a federation trying to keep fans interested with the team not qualifying for this summer’s World Cup. It’s unknown whether a decision has already been made or whether it will be finalized once U.S. Soccer hires a permanent MNT coach.
For now, mark your calendars. With the 2019 Women’s World Cup scheduled to take place at the same time as Copa America, American fans could have a lot of soccer to watch next summer.