The Copa America Centenario is an event that is slightly different than the previous iterations of the tournament.
There's the size of the field: 16 teams, and not the usual 12, will compete and six of those teams are from CONCACAF. Normally, the competition, which was first contested in 1916 in Argentina, features the 10 countries belonging to CONMEBOL, plus two guest nations. The tournament will also take place outside of South America, in the United States, for the first time ever.
Despite the changes, the rules will look like the Copa Americas of the recent past, including no provision for extra time until the final match. Here's a look at the key provisions of the official regulations for Copa America:
Straight to penalty kicks -- except in the final
Unlike most other soccer tournaments, in Copa America, extra time is not played to break a tie at the end of regulation time in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Games that are tied after 90 minutes in the knockout round will bypass overtime and go directly to penalty kicks as a tiebreaker -- except in the tournament final. If the final is tied after regulation time, the teams will play two 15-minute extra time periods to try and determine a winner before penalty kicks. Only if the score remains tied after the extra time will the game go to penalty kicks to determine the winner and champion.
Yellow card accumulation
If a player receives two yellow cards in two separate matches through group games or the quarterfinals, they will be suspended for the following game. Yellow card accumulation will be reset after the quarterfinals and cards from the first two rounds will not carry over into the semifinals or the final.
Tiebreakers
If two or more teams are tied after group play is finished, the first tiebreaker is goal-difference (the team's goals scored minus its goals allowed). If teams' goal difference is equal, the second tiebreaker is goals scored. If teams are still tied, then head-to-head results are used to break the tie. If all that fails, lots will be drawn to determine which team(s) advance.
Format
The 16 teams in the tournament are divided into four groups of four, with teams playing against each of the other teams in the group. The two teams in each group with the most points (teams get three points for a win, one for a draw) after the round robin portion advance to the quarterfinals, which are a single elimination (knockout) format.
