Argentina’s Lionel Messi (left) and Qatar’s Tarek Salman in action during their Copa America Group B match played at the Gremio Arena in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in this June 23 file photo.
Asian heavyweights Qatar will meet five time FIFA World Cup winners Brazil in the group stage of next year’s Copa America, details showed yesterday.
The Asian Champions have been drawn in Group B which also includes global football giants Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.
Next year’s Copa America will be co-hosted by Colombia and Argentina.
All groups games will take place in Colombia.
Group A will see Lionel Messi-led Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and invitees Australia.
The 12-team tournament, which runs from June 12 to July 12, includes all 10 teams from South America and two guest teams.
The first round draw was finalised on Tuesday with only Qatar’s and Australia’s status left to be decided at the ceremonial draw.
The other teams in the two groups had already been determined based on geographical proximity to co-hosts Argentina and Colombia, which are separated by more than 7,000 kilometers.
Four teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals. The opening match will be played between Argentina and Chile at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires and the final will take place in Colombia.
Qatar made their Copa America debut earlier this year and they drew against Paraguay before going down fighting to Colombia and Argentina.
Brazil sealed their ninth Copa title after defeating Peru 3-1 in the final played on July 7.
