SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Australia and Qatar will be the invited guests at next year’s Copa America, the South American Football Confederation said on Thursday.
The two teams from the Asian confederation will join the 10 South American nations in the 2020 tournament, which for the first time will be held jointly in two countries, Colombia and Argentina.
One of the two visiting nations will be drawn in the Colombia-based northern section along with Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.
The other will be drawn in the Argentina-based southern section along with Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile.
Four will qualify from each six-team section for the quarter-finals.
The decision means Qatar, the current Asian champions, will compete in two consecutive Copa Americas.
The 2022 World Cup hosts are already in Brazil to take part in the 2019 version which kicks off on Friday.
(Reporting by Andrew Downie, editing by Ed Osmond)