The Copa America in the USA also serves as a kind of test run for the organizers for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held jointly with Canada and Mexico. However, the number of spectators at the continental tournament has so far left a lot to be desired. The only draws so far have been defending champions Argentina and Brazil, otherwise there have been no sold-out games. There is concern that the host USA has also not been able to fill the stadiums.
At the US opening match against Bolivia (2-0), fewer than 48,000 fans attended the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium, while at the 1-2 defeat to Panama, 59,145 of the 71,000 seats in the Mercedes Benz Stadium were occupied. The Arrowhead Stadium was also not sold out for the final 0-1 loss against Uruguay, which sealed the US team’s elimination. All of these arenas will also host the World Cup in two years’ time, with the majority of the group stage matches being played in the USA.
At other matches, the arenas were not even half full. The reasons for this are likely to be the extreme heat and significantly more expensive tickets than at the current European Championship in Germany, which is enjoying great public interest. The continental association of the national associations of South America (CONMEBOL) pointed out that one million tickets had been sold by the end of the group phase and that there will probably be 1.5 million by the end of the tournament. That’s how many fans watched the 2016 Copa in the USA.
