Normally they only have 12 teams- 10 countries from strong CONMEBOL and 2 invitees from CONCACAF. As this is a special edition being Centenary celebrations, it has been expanded to 16 teams with 6 invitees from CONCACAF. If it is expanded to 24 teams, the gulf in class will be too apparent. There are only 10 countries is CONMEBOL (South America). We cannot find 14 teams in CONMEBOL which can be competitive against those teams. You cannot have Bahamas or Montserrat playing against Brazil. I believe that next time they will revert back to 12 teams.
Yes CONCACAF means three unions North America, Central America and Caribbean Union. (The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) Surinam and Guyana always considered themselves as Caribbean nation as compared to South American. Different culture, language, Colonial history perhaps then other South American countries.
That is exactly the reason. And ya, it will revert back, at least for 2020. There may be plans to make the Copa America Centenario format permanent. 16 teams is perfect due to the low number of South American teams and the quality of North American sides. There is potential though to one day expand to 24 but that won't be for at least a couple decades.
Suriname can be a great team if they are able to convince their Dutch exports to play for Suriname. So many Holland players are either born or are children of Surinamese immigrants in Holland. USA, Mexico, Costa Rica are at the same level as CONMEBOL now. Teams like Panama, Haiti, Jamaica need some time and patience before they are competitive against CONMEBOL teams.
North America has enough countries to play their own prestegeous tournament
And if you guys are saying that there should not be 24 teams in copa america because of lack of competition and it wont look good for big teams to play minnows dont you think thats the same thing thats going to happen in the asian cup 2019 ? I mean India is a minnow in the eyes of top asian giants so we should nt be playing in qualifiers?
Every small country deserves opportunity to atleast stand in the presence of the best
Copa should have 24 teams 10 of south and 14 of north america as Asia also has 12 best and worst teams scenario and similar UEFA
North America does have enough teams for our own competition, and thus why we do, the Gold Cup, but other than the Mexican and American teams and the infrastructure of the US, the Gold Cup really does not have much and South America has never had a Copa America as successful as this one before so a mixed one would probably be considered.
16 teams is good enough. 10 from South America. 6 from North America. The US and Mexico are good enough to get in, so is Costa Rica. Central America's other good teams include Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala while the Caribbean includes Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, and maybe the Dominican Republic but not really. There is not enough for a 24 team tournament but certainly enough for a good qualifiers. Also, 24 teams with a lot of the teams being Central American and Caribbean would probably mean less viewers and attendance for the competition organizers and not something they would want to do.
Comments
There are only 10 countries is CONMEBOL (South America). We cannot find 14 teams in CONMEBOL which can be competitive against those teams. You cannot have Bahamas or Montserrat playing against Brazil.
I believe that next time they will revert back to 12 teams.
USA, Mexico, Costa Rica are at the same level as CONMEBOL now.
Teams like Panama, Haiti, Jamaica need some time and patience before they are competitive against CONMEBOL teams.
has enough countries to play their own prestegeous tournament
And if you guys are saying that there should not be 24 teams in copa america because
of lack of competition and it wont look good for big teams to play minnows dont you think thats the same thing thats going to happen in the asian cup 2019 ? I mean India is a minnow in the eyes of top asian giants so we should nt be playing in qualifiers?
Every small country deserves opportunity to atleast stand in the presence of the best
Copa should have 24 teams 10 of south and 14 of north america as Asia also has 12 best and worst teams scenario and similar UEFA
16 teams is good enough. 10 from South America. 6 from North America. The US and Mexico are good enough to get in, so is Costa Rica. Central America's other good teams include Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala while the Caribbean includes Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, and maybe the Dominican Republic but not really. There is not enough for a 24 team tournament but certainly enough for a good qualifiers. Also, 24 teams with a lot of the teams being Central American and Caribbean would probably mean less viewers and attendance for the competition organizers and not something they would want to do.