Australia will take part in the 2020 Copa America after the FFA accepted CONMEBOL’s invitation to join.

The Socceroos will join Qatar as the two invitees to play in the tournament hosted by Argentina and Colombia, along with the 10 South American countries.

CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez announced the governing body’s reasoning for inviting Graham Arnold’s side to the tournament for the first time.

“We have decided to invite … to participate in our competitions the current Asian confederation champions and the previous ones,” he said.

The groups for the tournament have already been drawn, with the ‘North Zone’ containing Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, while the ‘South Zone’ contains Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. Australia will be drawn in one zone and Qatar in the other.

Qatar kick-off their 2019 Copa America campaign this weekend against Paraguay in Group B, before facing Colombia and Argentina.

 

Damon Palmar
damon@footballnationradio.com