Brazillian legend Cafu pulls out Qatar’s slip during the official draw ceremony of the 2019 Copa America in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday.
Doha: Qatar have been drawn along with global football heavyweights Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay in Group B for this summer’s Copa America, it was revealed yesterday.
The official draw ceremony took place in Rio de Janeiro and Brazilian legend Cafu picked up Qatar’s slip during the glamorous event which was attended by his countrymen Zico, Ze Roberto and Marta, Argentina’s Javier Zanetti, Uruguay’s Diego Lugano, Colombia’s Francisco Maturana and Paraguay’s Romerito.
A team of Qatar Football Association (QFA) officials, headed by Ibrahim Khalil Al Mohannadi, Executive Committee Member of the QFA, participated in the draw ceremony. The Qatari delegation also included Fahad Al Thani, Director of the Development Department of QFA, Khalifa Saleh Al Haroun, Senior Marketing Advisor to the Secretary-General, Abdul Rahman Abdul Jabbar, Media Officer and Mubarak Al Ali, Security Officer.
The draw also saw hosts Brazil getting a relatively easier group. Eight-time winners Brazil, the top seeds in Group A, were given a pool with Bolivia, Venezuela and Peru.
Japan, making their second appearance after a disappointing debut in 1999, landed in a tough Group C as they drew 15-time champions Uruguay, holders Chile and Ecuador.
Qatar - along with Japan will take part as guests in the 12-team tournament in Brazil and will be playing in their first tournament in South America.
The 2019 Copa America - the 46th edition of the event - will be played across five cities in Brazil - Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo. The tournament is set to get under way on June 14 and will run for three weeks until the final on July 7.
Qatar’s opening match of the tournament will be against Paraguay on June 16. The match will kick off at 10.00pm Qatar time.
Next up, they will meet Colombia in their second Group match on June 19 and the match is set to kick off at 12.30am Qatar time on the following day
In their third and final Group B match, Al Annabi will be up against the former world champions Argentina on June 23. The match is set to kick off at 10.00pm.
Chile have won the past two tournaments but have slipped to 13 in the world rankings - below Denmark - as hosts Brazil who start off as favourites, will attempt to win the tournament for the first time in 12 years.
All eyes will be on global icon Lionel Messi who could return to lead Argentina after a disappointing World Cup campaign.
Argentina have won the tournament 14 times but their last cup win came in 1993.
Uruguay is the most successful team in the tournament’s 103-year long history with 15 title victories.
