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Copa America Centenario 101 | A look into the international tournament

On Friday, the U.S. Men's National Team will open the 2016 edition of the Copa América, called the Copa América Centenario, with a match against Colombia in Santa Clara, Calif (6:30pm PT, FS1). That match kicks off an entire month of soccer – from June 3 to June 26 – that will determine the best team from the Americas.

What is the Copa América?

In July 1916, in celebration of the centennial of its independence, Argentina hosted a four-team soccer tournament with neighbors Chile, Uruguay and Brazil. The success of that tournament, then called the Campeonato Sudamericano de Football, inspired the founding of South America's soccer confederation, CONMEBOL, and a new tournament, Copa América, which was held in Uruguay the following year.