The 100 year anniversary of the Copa America was celebrated in the United States. This was the first time the south american soccer tournament was held outside of the south american continent. Congratulations to Chile on winning the tournament. There is plenty to discuss after the tournament concluded. What made this tournament unique was that both the north and south american national teams took part. Due to the success of the tournament there has been rumors about making this Copa America tournament permanently played with both the North and South American teams in it. A tournament held in the United States every fours year during the summer. Alejandro Moreno former soccer player and now sports analyst was not too found of this idea of a merger tournament. The cup of Americas is meant to stay in South America because it is a South American tournament is Moreno's main and for the most part only argument against the idea. Unfortunately I will go against Moreno's wishes and lets discuss of the possibility of a merger tournament between the North and South American Continents. For the merger to take place the two soccer federations from the north (CONCACAF) and south (CONMEBOL) must sit down and negotiate financial terms as well as the footballing terms. To save time I will discuss the footballing aspect of this fun discussion. The host of the tournament should not always be the United States. I agree that the United States is the best equipped country to host a tournament of this magnitude at the moment and in short notice. But, by making the United States a permanent host it goes against the reason for allowing North American nations participate in a South American tournament. It would make the Copa America into the Copa 'Murica. The Copa America is suppose to be a tournament that celebrates ALL THEE AMERICAS.
The CONMEBOL has 10 national teams while the CONCACAF has 41. However, the South American teams tend to be much more competitive and better quality in their play than their northern neighbors. Surprisingly the CONCACAF is more than just the United States and Mexico. The tournament should include all ten south american soccer nations with automatic bids for US soccer and the Mexican national team. The remaining four spots should be decided on qualifiers designed by the CONCACAF. In total there will be sixteen teams divided into four groups of four with the top two from each group advancing into the quarter finals. The set up would be very similar to the successful format that was used this summer for the 2016 Copa American 100 year edition. It worked. One of the main talking points behind the merger besides the money is that it will benefit the smaller nations more. I disagree with that notion due to the fact that I ask HOW? The smaller nations will have a very difficult and competitive qualification process ahead of them just to make the tournament. CONCACAF has 41 nations in its federation competing for 4 spots. Allowing more spots for the actual summer tournament by increasing it from 16 to 20 or 24 might not result in a good tournament. It leads to the potential of increasing pointless boring group stage games with teams that are bearable to watch. The top two teams from the CONCACAF is Mexico and the United States. Would those two teams even be competitive enough to matter in a tournament such as this one? The latest results from this past summer is that both CONCACAF giants are not ready, Mexico lost to Chile by a margin of 7 goals while the United States didn't fair to well against Argentina in that 4-0 lost.
At the moment I don't see the Copa America becoming into a western hemisphere power tournament. There are too many questions such as who qualifies for the Confederations Cup? Can other nations host a tournament of this magnitude? And what about the Gold cup? In all, the merger seems like a great idea that is possible in the distant future, but at the moment it is just that, a fun idea.
