THE FINAL WORD MetLife Stadium to host Copa America Centenario championship

MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will be the site of the 2016 Centennial Copa America final June 26.

The home of the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets, located eight miles west of New York City, was the original choice of U.S. Soccer, which will serve as the local organizing committee for the special one-off tournament that will feature top national teams from North and South America. The tournament, which has never before been hosted outside of South America, should captivate the attention of the entire Western Hemisphere, with big teams and big stars set to face off for the first trophy of its kind.

Superstars like Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar are expected to feature.

The tournament has had many iterations in its 100-year history, with the current format coming into play in 2007.

Sixteen teams will compete in the Copa America Centenario, with all 10 CONMEBOL federations joined by six CONCACAF countries.

The 82,000 seat MetLife Stadium will host not only the final, but perhaps up to three Copa matches for the event.

In announcing the seeded teams, organizers also revealed the dates of matches, including the cities each seeded nation will visit, as well as the dates they will play during the group phase of the tournament.

From CONCACAF, host United States and Mexico are automatic qualifiers for next summer’s tournament, while Costa Rica (2014 Central American Cup winner) and Jamaica (2014 CFU Caribbean Cup winner) qualified with regional championships previous year.

The historic Copa Centenario tournament will conclude in East Rutherford. Matches will be played from June 3 – 26. Details of groups and procedures for the draw will be announced leading up to that event.

Other venues include: Foxborough, Massachusetts (Gillette Stadium), Chicago (Soldier Field), Houston (NRG Stadium), Pasadena (Rose Bowl), Orlando (Citrus Bowl Stadium), Philadelphia (Lincoln Financial Field), Phoenix (University of Phoenix Stadium), the San Francisco Bay Area (Levi’s Stadium) and Seattle (CenturyLink Field).