The draw for the group stage of the 2024 Copa América tournament was conducted on Thursday evening, and the Canadian men’s national team now know what would await them if they manage to qualify for the competition.
“Play-in 1 Winner” — that is, whichever of Canada or Trinidad and Tobago wins the one-off Copa América play-in match — was drawn into Group A, alongside Argentina, Peru and Chile.
So, if Canada manage to defeat Trinidad in that play-in, slated for March 23 in Frisco, Texas, they will play in Copa América and take on world champions Argentina, featuring the likes of Lionel Messi.
The 14 teams already qualified for the tournament — the 10 South American nations of CONMEBOL plus four Concacaf sides that advanced to the Nations League semifinals — were seeded into four pots of four, based on the latest FIFA World Rankings. Argentina, Brazil, the United States and Mexico made up Pot 1 and were assigned to Group A, D, C and B, respectively.
The two play-in spots were both seeded in Pot 4. The first of those places will be taken by either Canada or Trinidad and Tobago, with the second going to either Costa Rica or Honduras. The full pots were as follows, with FIFA rankings in parentheses:
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Argentina (1) | Uruguay (15) | Chile (37) | Jamaica (55) |
| Brazil (3) | Colombia (17) | Panama (44) | Bolivia (85) |
| United States (11) | Peru (26) | Venezuela (49) | Play-in 1 Winner |
| Mexico (13) | Ecuador (36) | Paraguay (53) | Play-in 2 Winner |
Each of the four groups includes one team from each of the four pots. In this 16-team tournament, the top two teams from each group after round-robin play will advance to the quarter-finals, where Group A and Group B will form one side of the bracket, and Group C and Group D the other.
This year’s Copa América will be played entirely in the United States, running from June 20 to July 14.
Canada has never participated at the tournament, which is the world’s oldest still-running continental football competitions and one of the most prestigious honours in the international game. Argentina won the most recent edition of the tournament in 2021, defeating fierce rivals Brazil in the final.
The full groups are below:
The Groups are set for Copa America 2024!
Canada needs to win their playoff match against Trinidad and Tobago in March to secure their spot in Group A.
The Playoff matches between Canada and Trinidad and Tobago along with Honduras and Costa Rica will take place in March 2024. pic.twitter.com/TBSq3NvWKd
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 8, 2023