Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Copa America, Football, Lionel Messi, Argentina, USA
Alex Brotherton
Topics: Copa America, Football, Lionel Messi, Argentina, USA
The knockout stage of the 2024 Copa America will begin on Thursday evening, but extra-time will not be used to decide matches that end all-square.
After a group stage packed with quality football, drama and upsets, it's now time for the business end of the 2024 Copa America to commence.
While South American heavyweights Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil all made it through to the final-eight as expected, Mexico, Chile and the United States suffered surprise group stage eliminations.
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Defending champions Argentina will get the quarter-finals underway on Thursday when they take on Ecuador in Houston, before Venezuela face Canada on Friday evening and Colombia take on Panama on Saturday.
Having failed to top their group, Brazil face a tough assignment against an in-form Uruguay.
All four ties are hard to call, and there's a strong possibility at least one match won't be decided in 90 minutes.
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Extra-time would usually follow a tied match after 90 minutes, but not in the Copa America.
That's because tournament regulations state that quarter-final and semi-final matches that are level after 90 minutes should be decided by penalty shootout.
Extra-time will not be used in the third-place play-off either. The only knockout match where extra-time can be used is the final.
This year's showpiece fixture will take place in Miami on July 15, and could see old rivals Argentina and Brazil go head-to-head.
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Lionel Messi and Argentina, looking to win a third successive major tournament, have recent experience of tied matches going straight to penalties.
Their semi-final clash with Colombia in 2021 ended 1-1, with La Albiceleste prevailing 3-2 in the shootout that followed.
Argentina went on to beat Brazil 1-0 in the final at Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracana.
The current format of the Copa America is similar to that of the European Championship before the 2016 expansion.
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16 teams entered the group stage and were divided into four groups of four. The top two teams from each group progressed to the quarter-finals, with group winners paired with second place finishers.