Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle are the venues chosen to host the matches of the Copa America Centennial, to be played in the United States from 3 to 26 June 2016 , today announced the CONCACAF and CONMEBOL.
The host cities were selected from 24 candidates who submitted proposals in early 2015 and stadiums passed rigorous standards, which include having a minimum capacity of 60 thousand people and other infrastructure needs, as reported by the Local Organizing Committee of tournament.
Metropolitan areas and their respective stadiums are: Boston (Gillette Stadium), Chicago (Soldier Field), Houston (NRG Stadium), Los Angeles (Rose Bowl Stadium), New York (MetLife Stadium), Orlando (Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium) Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field), Phoenix (University of Phoenix Stadium), San Francisco (Levi's Stadium) and Seattle (CenturyLink Field).
The World Cup stadium the Rose Bowl, Pasadena (California) will host the final, while each venue are going to play at least three games.
Competition is the historic edition of the centenary of the Copa America-the championship of South America in 2016 will be held outside South America for the first time.
"The 10 host cities of the Copa America 2016 Centennial will be the perfect place to unite the American continent in a unique celebration of the history and talent of football stage," said the president of CONCACAF, Alfredo Hawit said in a statement.
For his part, President of CONMEBOL, Juan Angel Napout said: "No doubt this event will be a luxury appointment with the talent of the stars that dazzle with their good football in the most competitive leagues in the world. The US holiday is assured. "
"These 10 cities and venues provide a great atmosphere for fans around the world to attend the Copa Centenario and allow them to see that there is great passion for soccer in the United States," said US Soccer President Sunil Gulati.
The tournament will feature six teams in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), and the ten teams in the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol).
CONCACAF, United States and Mexico are automatic qualifiers, while Costa Rica (winner of the 2014 Copa Centroamericana) and Jamaica (winner of the 2014 Caribbean Cup) were classified by winning these regional championships.
The last two CONCACAF teams that will be part of America Centennial Cup will be known in a playoff doubleheader to be held on January 8, 2016 in Panama City.
Trinidad and Tobago will face Haiti and Panama will face Cuba, and the winner of each match will qualify for the Copa America Centenario.
The participating teams in South America are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Uruguay has been a champion of the Copa America fifteen times, while Chile, home to the last contest, won his first title this year.
Additional information on the timetable and tickets will be announced later this year, with the draw for the Copa America 2016 Centennial will take place in 2016.