The 100th anniversary of the Copa America will be held in the United States.

The first time ever being held outside of South America, the competition includes 16 teams, 10 of which are from the South American continent while the rest are guests from CONCACAF. Jamaica, winners of the 2014 Caribbean Cup, are back for their second consecutive tournament while the other guests include the United States, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and Haiti. The tournament will commence on Friday, June 3 with the opening fixture seeing the hosts face off against Colombia.Group A: United States, Colombia, Costa Rica, Paraguay

Groups

Group B: Brazil, Ecuador, Haiti, Peru

Group C: Mexico, Uruguay, Jamaica, Venezuela

Group D: Argentina, Chile, Panama, Bolivia

NB: Only the winner and runner-up will advance to the knockout stages of the competition.

ALSO read our predictions here: Copa America 100 predictions

As with every tournament, there are prerequisite favourites and the obvious teams that fit that category are Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and holders Chile.

The Brazil squad has been immersed in controversy recently regarding the availability of their talisman and captain Neymar Jr. The player’s club, Barcelona, requested that the 24-year-old play in only one of Brazil’s tournaments this summer (the other being the Olympics). The Catalan giants got their wish to much anger and disappointment from Brazil fans when Neymar was eventually left out of the Copa America Centenario squad and included in the Olympic team. The team however will not be deprived of talent as German Bundasliga winner Douglas Costa is expected to lead the line along with Zenit striker Hulk. Other notable key players who were called up include Casemiro (Real Madrid), Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool), Willian (Chelsea) and Dani Alves (Barcelona). The Seleção are expected to dominate what many think is a fairly easy group for them and go on to win their 9th Copa title.

Argentina, captained by the legendary Lionel Messi, are perhaps favourites to win the 100th edition of the Copa America. With another controversial team selection, leaving out the likes of Carlos Tevez and Paulo Dybala, the Albiceleste still contain an extremely talented squad with the likes of Angel Di Mari, Higuain and Sergio Aguero leading the attack and an experienced Javier Mascherano to marshal the midfield. With 14 Copa titles to their name, Argentine fans will hope this is the tournament their team will be successful in especially after years of underachievement, accentuated by the now infamous World Cup final defeat two years ago at the hands of Germany. Perhaps this will be the first major tournament Lionel Messi wins before hanging up his boots.

Uruguay have won the most Copa America titles (15) but will begin this year’s tournament without their main striker and Barcelona forward Luis Suarez. The European golden boot winner (40 goals) has been sidelined with an injured hamstring after playing only an hour in Barcelona’s Copa Del Rey final last Saturday. The injury has casted doubts over Uruguay’s potential success in the tournament, however, they still have the likes of Edison Cavani and Abel Hernandez to lead the line. In a group consisting of Jamaica, Venezuela and Mexico, Uruguay is expected to finish atop with the other three teams battling for second.

Holders Chile will surely want to bounce back from their surprising 2-1 defeat at home to CONCACAF team Jamaica last Friday when they prepare to defend their crown following last year’s 4-1 penalty shootout win against Argentina. Led by the diminutive and skilful Alexis Sanchez, La Roja is expected to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament in a group that consists of Argentina, Panama and Bolivia. However, given that Jamaica already has experience in defeating them and a very talented Argentinean team led by the influential Lionel Messi is determined to make this their tournament, perhaps Chile’s reign as champions will end even before the knockout stages.

The Copa America Centenario will end on the 26th of June. Maybe one of these teams will be playing in the final on that day or perhaps an underdog will discard of all predictions and upset the playing cards, but whatever happens, the 100th celebration of one of the most prestigious tournaments in world football is bound to be a memorable one. Let’s see who wins.