Conmebol, alongside its ongoing negotiations with FIFA to determine its level of participation in the 2030 World Cup—where it proposed expanding the format from 48 to 64 teams and hosting 18 matches across Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay—is already evaluating host options for the 2028 Copa America. And once again, there is a strong candidate that wants to bring the tournament back home.
According to The Athletic, the Copa America could return to the United States in 2028, as new conversations between Concacaf and Conmebol explore the possibility of repeating the host nation from the 2016 and 2024 editions. The discussions put the U.S. back at the center of the international soccer landscape, further enriching a calendar that already includes the Olympic Games and the buildup to the 2026 World Cup.
Although Ecuador and Argentina remain in the mix, record revenue projections, elite infrastructure, and the strategic value of the U.S. market strongly support another agreement.
In essence, Conmebol aims to stage the Copa America in stadiums and cities fully capable of hosting World Cup-level matches—requirements that, realistically, few South American countries can meet at scale. For that reason, the United States once again emerge as the favorites to land the 2028 edition.
Ecuador’s case, the other option that emerged for the 2028 Copa America
Ecuador previously expressed interest in hosting the 2028 Copa America. However, Francisco Egas, president of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF), publicly stepped back from that possibility. “Whether it is possible or impossible to host the Copa America depends on how much the country is willing to invest. If the investment is made, I believe it could happen. With what we currently have, it is impossible,” he told La Radio Redonda in Guayaquil.
Still, Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, renewed the country’s bid in 2024, stating: “To that half of the world that has not seen you since ’93, that dreams of you, that longs for you, that wants to experience you again…”
In a special video released in February 2024, President Noboa used social media to highlight Ecuador as a safe territory and project it as “an example, not a failure—one capable of hosting the Copa America,” he said in an interview with CNN.
Argentina as one of the preferred host candidates
Even so, the federation has not ruled out Argentina, as reported by German Carrara of Bolavip in 2024. Since the 2020 edition—which was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and originally meant to be co-hosted by Argentina and Colombia before moving to Brazil in 2021—Argentina has remained a viable alternative.
In terms of infrastructure, Argentina has more than enough to host the Copa America, with cities like Buenos Aires, La Plata, Córdoba, Mendoza, San Juan, and Santiago del Estero offering established venues. The country last hosted the tournament in 2011. Additionally, early conversations in 2024 included the possibility of incorporating Uruguay and Paraguay, partly to evaluate logistical components tied to the 2030 World Cup cycle.