Everything you need to know about the Copa America

Good morning and welcome back to the Brazil Sports newsletter. This week, we’re previewing the Copa America which kicks off on Friday, we have a profile of a true legend of the Brazilian game, and we look at the bizarre world of shirt sponsorships in Brazilian football. Happy reading!

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Everything you need to know about the Copa America

The Copa America kicks off this week, with Brazil facing Bolivia on Friday night in São Paulo. This will be the first time Brazil has hosted the tournament since 1989, and the country has never lost a Copa America on home soil.

Those unfamiliar with the competition may be confused to see Qatar and Japan among the participants. No need to check your atlases, folks, Qatar and Japan haven’t actually been in South America this whole time. As the continent only has ten footballing nations, and there is no competition format which works with such a small amount of teams, since 1993, the South American football confederation always invites two countries from outside the continent. In 2015, Mexico and Jamaica got the nod, this time it will be Qatar and Japan.

Split into three groups of four, the top two from each pool (along with the two top third-placed teams) qualify for the quarterfinals. The grand final will take place on July 7, in Rio’s Maracanã stadium.

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As always, we have a strong field in this year’s tournament. Lionel Messi will be going for his first ever senior trophy for Argentina, and his country’s opener against Colombia on Saturday night is the highlight fixture of the week.

For Brazil, things are a bit up in the...