Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta was awarded the 2024 Copa América opener and South Florida’s Hard Rock Stadium will host the final of the tournament, held outside of its home continent for only the second time.
A joint announcement was made Monday by soccer’s governing bodies of South America and of North and Central America and the Caribbean. Other sites and the schedule for the 16-team tournament were not revealed.
The tournament is set to begin on June 20 at 71,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United has set numerous attendance records. Defending Copa América champion Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, will presumably be one of the teams taking part in the opener.
The retractable-roof stadium near downtown Atlanta, which opened in 2017, will install a grass field over its artificial playing surface for the tournament.
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens already has a Bermuda grass field and seats about 65,000 after a $500 million renovation that included installation of a roof above seating areas. The 36-year-old home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins will host the July 14 final.
If Argentina advances to the championship game, it would give Messi a chance to play in the same market as his current MLS team, Inter Miami.
“We expect stadiums filled with the passion of the entire American continent for the inauguration and the final,” Alejandro Dominguez, president of the South American governing body CONMEBOL. said in a statement.
Both stadiums have been selected as sites for the 2026 World Cup, to be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
