Argentina and the U.S. men’s national team are going to play in Atlanta in two of the matches in next year’s Copa America tournament, the championship for South America’s men’s national teams.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host the opening match on June 20 and will feature Argentina, the defending World Cup champs and likely featuring Lionel Messi, against a team to be determined.
Atlanta’s second game is scheduled to be played on June 27 and will include the U.S. men’s team against an opponent to be determined, according to information released on Monday by CONMEBOL, South America’s governing body for soccer. Grass will be put down in Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the matches. The 16-team tournament is scheduled to be played June 20-July 14, with the championship in Miami.
These will be the most important international soccer matches ever played in Atlanta will be a prelude to the city and stadium hosting at least one match, likely more, in the 2026 World Cup. That schedule has yet to be released.
The U.S. has played in Atlanta one time since 1977. That match was part of the Gold Cup and was played at the Georgia Dome in 2015. The previous game was against China at Fulton County Stadium.
The tournament groups are scheduled to be drawn on Thursday in Miami. There will be four pots from which teams will be drawn into groups. Several teams have already been placed into groups. Argentina is in Group A, the U.S. in Group C, Mexico in Group B and Brazil is in Group D.
Argentina will play the fourth team from Group A in the opener. The U.S., which should feature Christian Pulisic and Weston McKinnie, will play the third team in Group C.
It will be the 48th edition of the tournament It will include 10 teams from South America, and six from CONCACAF, including the U.S. Argentina is the defending champ. It will be the second time the tournament has been held in the U.S. The last time was 2016.
One semifinal scheduled to be played in East Rutherford, N.J. on July 9 and the other in Charlotte on July 10.
Quarterfinals are scheduled to be played in Houston, Arlington, Texas, Las Vegas and Glendale, Ariz.
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