The Copa America 2024 starts on Thursday - with something of a different look.

But the stars are familiar, with Lionel Messi and Vinicius Jr looking to add to their trophy hauls.

It's not in South America... and six of the teams are from elsewhere too.

South America's continental championship will be played in the United States.

And six of the 16 teams are from the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf).

It was also the same for the special edition 2016 Copa America Centenario - but this is the first regular staging of the tournament to be played outside of the continent.

Many of the host cities are in southern states such as California, Texas and Florida - but there are stadia further north too including in New Jersey.

The tournament is being seen as preparation for the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States - along with Canada and Mexico.

The US, Mexico, Jamaica, Canada, Costa Rica and Panama will be the six North and Central American countries joining all 10 South American nations to compete.

Most Copas since 1993 have had 12 countries, including two guests - with Japan and Qatar having played in past editions - but the last one in 2021 just had the 10 South American nations.

There are four groups of four teams, with the two top from each group going into the quarter-finals.

The tournament starts with Argentina v Canada on 20 June in Atlanta, and ends with the final in Miami on 14 July.

Group A: Argentina, Peru, Chile, Canada

Group B: Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Jamaica

Group C: United States, Uruguay, Panama, Bolivia

Group D: Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Costa Rica