Outside of South America, the America’s Cup will take place for just the second time in the tournament’s 108-year history.
In honor of the centennial, the United States will once again play host to an expanded tournament with 16 teams instead of the customary 12. This year’s tournament is a sort of practice run for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted by the US, Mexico, and Canada.
As is customary, all ten CONMEBOL member nations will be present, along with the four nations that advanced to the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals: the United States, Mexico, Jamaica, and Panama.
The two Nations League quarterfinalists who did not advance to the semifinals—Canada and Costa Rica—also advanced to the next round.
From June 20th through the 14th, the tournament will be held this year.
The most beautiful
As expected, Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, are heavy favorites to win the trophy for a record-breaking 16th time.
Messi won his first major trophy with Argentina and the country’s first in 28 years three years ago, when he helped lead the Albiceleste to triumph in the 2021 Copa America, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team defeated Brazil in the final.
It was a relief to finally win, and it set the stage for Argentina to win the World Cup in Qatar 18 months later, when Messi finally won the trophy he had always wanted.
Messi recently told the Argentine publication Infobae that he has “achieved everything.” He had previously been plagued by failures with Argentina and even briefly retired from international football after a second successive Copa America final defeat to Chile in 2016.
Messi may not play in another major international tournament until the 2024 Copa America. As Messi has already stated to Star+, “time will tell” when asked if the 2022 World Cup would be his final.
“As long as I feel that I can help and that I’m okay, I will do it,” Messi said, referring to his upcoming 37th birthday during the Copa America. “Getting ready for the America’s Cup and competing in it is my only concern right now. “If we do well in the Copa America and I can keep playing, maybe that will happen,” he said, adding, “if we fight for it again like we always do then we can become champions.”
Messi supporters, according to Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni—whose side has lost just four of their last fifty games—should not fret over the future but rather live in the here and now.
“We Argentines are too melancholic and are already thinking about the day he will leave while he is still playing,” Scaloni stated the previous week. We should take it easy and see what happens the next day. In the end, Leo plays for everyone who loves football, so I think the present is very important for the whole world, not just Argentina.
Without a doubt, Angel Di Maria will compete in his last tournament for Argentina.
Thanks to his heroics in the 2021 Copa America final and his goal in the 2022 World Cup final, the 36-year-old has become a national hero and earned 140 caps.
Not only that, Di Maria took home the gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the World Under-20 Championship in 2007.