CONCACAF and CONMEBOL have frequently lived in separate universes — 41 nations throughout North America, Central America, and the Caribbean on one facet; 10 South American nations on the opposite. However since 2023, the connection has shifted from a diplomatic to a structural one. What started as cooperation has grow to be technical, industrial, and aggressive integration, already reshaping the soccer ecosystem throughout the hemisphere.
It’s not a proper merger — not but. However each sign factors in that route.
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What Really Modified After 2023
A strategic settlement signed two years in the past opened the door to joint calendars, unified industrial merchandise and cross-confederation competitions at three ranges.
1. Males’s Nationwide Groups
The 2024 Copa América, hosted in america, introduced collectively all 10 South American nations plus six CONCACAF qualifiers by the Nations League pathway.
The 2024 Copa América hosted in america introduced collectively all 10 South American nations plus six CONCACAF qualifiers by the Nations League pathway.
The targets had been specific: elevate aggressive requirements earlier than the 2026 World Cup and maximize a premium event positioned on this planet’s largest sports activities market.
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2. Girls’s Nationwide Groups
The 2024 W Gold Cup included Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Paraguay in a complete cross-confederation event.
The quick impression: extra high-level matches, broader visibility, {and professional} situations that many rising packages beforehand lacked.
3. Golf equipment
The confederations mentioned an intercontinental Ultimate 4: two Libertadores golf equipment vs. two Concacaf Champions Cup qualifiers.
Objective: create actual rivalries, deepen scouting, and speed up technical change between MLS and South America’s elite golf equipment.
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Victor Montagliani (CONCACAF) has described the mixing as “mutually useful” — alignment with out erasing identities.
Copa América 2028 in america?
Current reporting from shops equivalent to The Athletic confirms that CONCACAF and CONMEBOL are in energetic negotiations to return the Copa América to U.S. soil in 2028, repeating the ten+6 mannequin.
The motivation is clear: ready-made infrastructure, a large shopper market, and proximity to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Video games.
Unified World Cup Qualifiers?
That is essentially the most delicate — and most transformative — dialogue.
Present codecs:
CONMEBOL: a brutal round-robin for 4.5 spots.
CONCACAF: 35 groups navigating phased qualifiers for 3.5 spots.
The proposal below assessment in Miami:
A single qualification race with roughly eight mixed berths, organized in built-in aggressive tiers.
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It will be essentially the most important structural overhaul within the Americas for the reason that Nineties.
The Rumor of a Full Merger
The industrial success of the 2024 Copa América revived the opportunity of a single pan-American confederation — 51 nationwide groups forming one of many strongest blocs outdoors UEFA, anchored by a definitive, unified Copa América.
However the obstacles are actual:
inner political constructions,
allocation of World Cup slots,
journey distances from Toronto to Buenos Aires,
preservation of the Gold Cup and Nations League.
Even so, for the primary time, the concept now not feels hypothetical. It additionally aligns with a broader development: the speedy rise of Caribbean-heritage gamers born in Europe who’ve chosen to characterize CONCACAF nations, elevating the area’s aggressive ceiling.
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This partnership already extends far past administration. It’s a deliberate technique to make soccer within the Americas extra aggressive, extra world, and extra commercially highly effective.
The outcomes are seen: packed stadiums, heightened visibility, elevated cross-confederation change, and direct matchups that speed up improvement.
If a Merger Really Occurs
The query is now not if. The continued integration already surpasses early expectations.
The brand new query is: who wins — and who loses — when your complete continent competes as one?
One clear winner is america, which turns into the recurring stage for continental occasions and the geographic epicenter of a unified ecosystem. However the long-term steadiness of energy — on the sphere and within the boardroom — stays the open query.