Pitch quality The tournament's pitch dimensions and grass surface was met with significant controversy amongst fans, players, and commentators alike. The smaller pitch sizes in the venues of the tournament, with most of them being used for
American football, measured by , compared to FIFA's standard of by , was reported to likely influence the dynamics of the game, leading to more closely contested matches. In addition, grass cultivated in specially selected nurseries was attached to plastic layers that adhered to the field's surface. It was transported by truck and laid down with meticulous attention to detail, considering factors like watering, sunlight, and the delivery routes of the trucks, according to a statement issued by CONMEBOL. Frederico Nantes, CONMEBOL's director of competitions, stated that the dimensions and capacity of soccer-specific MLS venues influenced the decision to restrict their usage during the tournament. Factors such as venue size, travel distances between cities, and infrastructure were carefully evaluated before CONMEBOL concluded that the use of artificial turf was unavoidable, despite player concerns about that playing surface. After the inaugural match of the tournament, Argentina vs Canada at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Argentina head coach
Lionel Scaloni and first-choice goalkeeper
Emiliano Martínez called the newly installed grass surface a "disaster" in a post-game interview. "They knew seven months ago that we'd play here and they changed the field two days ago," Scaloni said. "It's not an excuse, but this isn't a good field. Sincerely, the field is not apt for these kinds of players. We gave not necessarily a good game, but a game according to the pitch and what the opponent proposed. We couldn't do much more with the conditions of the pitch." Martínez added on to Scaloni's comments by saying the pitch was, "Very bumpy. We must improve in this aspect; otherwise, Copa América will always appear at a lower level than the
European Championship." After Peruvian player
Luis Advíncula's achilles injury during his side's match against Chile, Peru head coach
Jorge Fossati cited AT&T Stadium's unsatisfactory field as a potential reason for his injury: "It came out of nowhere. I realize that this is a grass field today but it's not normal grass. It's not grass that's born, and grows [naturally]. It's a grass they bring in from elsewhere. That can be a bit of a harder surface and it can affect you in that exact place [the Achilles]."
Vinícius Júnior,
Kamal Miller,
James Rodríguez, and Chile's coach
Ricardo Gareca were among other notable figures who expressed their concerns about the field conditions. "We started the project in June, when traveling to analyze fields and watch games here, and in November, we began inspections in all stadiums and all training centers," Maristela Kuhn, CONMEBOL's agricultural engineer, said. "Reports were generated with recommendations of everything that had to be done. We had meetings with the agronomists and programming. With a special technology, we had all the grass plantations defined."
Referee management The tournament was met with several poor refereeing incidents, the most notable of which included the United States vs Uruguay match; Uruguay's
Mathías Olivera scored the only goal of the match in the 66th minute, but appeared to be offside when the ball was flicked on, yet a prolonged VAR review upheld the goal without summoning the match referee,
Kevin Ortega, to the video monitor. Replays revealed a marginal overlap between Olivera's position and the foot of United States defender
Chris Richards, potentially keeping the Uruguayan onside. There were other contentious non-decisions during the match, but the most peculiar incident, aside from the goal, occurred in the 32nd minute, when Ortega reached for a yellow card to book Richards. Uruguay quickly took the free kick, and just as Ortega was about to show the card, he raised his other arm signaling to play on.
Nahitan Nández found himself through on goal but failed to score. Members of the United States team were very disappointed in the overall outcome of the match, particularly
Christian Pulisic, who was seen showing his frustration to Ortega throughout the match, with Ortega refusing to shake Pulisic's hand after the final whistle, and head coach
Gregg Berhalter stated in a post-game interview, "I don't understand it. You know, I feel like I know the rule pretty well. I feel like we had the pictures that are showing how the rule could be interpreted and it's an offside goal." Another match that involved questionable referee decisions was the Brazil vs Colombia match, when Venezuelan referee
Jesús Valenzuela denied a penalty in the 42nd minute for
Vinícius Júnior, to which CONMEBOL, in a statement after the match, acknowledged that a critical
VAR mistake was made.
Uruguay vs Colombia match altercation In the aftermath of the
semi-final match between Uruguay and Colombia, Uruguay forward
Darwin Núñez was seen getting involved in a confrontation with fans of Colombia in the stadium stands. The altercation reportedly took place near where family members and friends of the Uruguay team were situated, with CONMEBOL later announcing it would investigate the incident. The altercation was highly condemned. Two days after the match, Uruguay's head coach
Marcelo Bielsa, in a press conference interview, stated, "You know whose responsibility it is to protect the fans in the stands. You have to ask me whether the players have received an apology from those responsible for safeguarding security. The players reacted as any human being would have done if they saw that there was no escape or prevention and they were attacking their wife, mother, or baby." The Uruguayan players' involvement with the Colombian fans was supported by others, particularly from members of the Argentine national team. When interviewed about the situation, coach
Lionel Scaloni commented, "The images were very upsetting, and I believe anyone in that situation would have acted the same way." Goalkeeper
Emiliano Martínez likened the altercations to a similar incident at a
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match between Argentina and Brazil in November 2023; "I had family members in the stands close to what took place, watching the young people and women being beaten with clubs (by the Brazilian police). It was terrible to witness that. I wouldn't claim that I would do the same thing (fight with the fans), but I am supporting with the Uruguayan players, I think we need to improve security a bit more. When you see women or your parents being hit, obviously with Darwin and (Mathias) Olivera, players that I know personally, it's a very sad thing to see." Colombian midfielder
Juan Fernando Quintero also described the event as upsetting, "It's sad what happened and the people are not to blame. We don't want these kinds of things to happen when there's football. Nobody wants violence. Aggressive people who don't enjoy football shouldn't be in the stadiums."
Argentina vs Colombia ticketless fans During the
final between Argentina and Colombia, thousands of ticketless fans rushed the stadium gates amidst major crowd congestion, resulting in CONMEBOL delaying the start time three times, first from 8:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., then to 8:45 p.m., and finally to 9:22 p.m. The families of several Argentina players found themselves delayed at the gate. For example, the mother of
Alexis Mac Allister stated in an interview that "He was worried and called us constantly to check on us, saying he would stay at the gate until we could get in." Many of the areas and equipment such as escalators were damaged. Some fans were seen trying to enter the stadium through the
ventilation system, and some people suffered medical issues from the heat and
crowd crush. Many ticketed fans were prevented from entering the stadium, leading to some seeking refunds.
CONMEBOL's sanctions and Shakira's halftime performance Several coaches have been sanctioned and received a one-match ban by CONMEBOL after returning to the pitch later than the given fifteen minutes during their matches, including Lionel Scaloni during Argentina's match against Canada in the group stage, in which Canada's coach
Jesse Marsch questioned, "I wish the referees would manage that. [Argentina] had that time to prepare how they wanted to play against us in the second half, which — if we would have known ahead of time that we could have an extra 10 minutes, then we could have prepared some things more", Uruguay's Marcelo Bielsa during their game with Bolivia, and Mexico's head coach
Jaime Lozano during Mexico's match against Jamaica in Group B as the Jamaican players were waiting on the soccer field. Lozano later admitted he and his team were reviewing tactics, "I don't know if it's unfair. But we went through four or five plays, and I took too long. Yes, it's my responsibility. Normally we have some actions, some plays on the screen to correct, or to see what we are doing right. And there, I think I went a bit overboard." Colombia's head coach
Néstor Lorenzo criticized CONMEBOL's decision to extend the length of the halftime break in the final by 10 minutes to accommodate
Shakira's halftime set. "When the rules change suddenly for both teams, when the pitch is bad for both sides or when the time to rest between halves is the same for both teams, I can't tell you if it's good or bad or who has an advantage. I don't understand it to be honest," he explained in a news conference. "I think the halftime for the final should be 15 minutes because those are the rules. And because we've been fined when we've walked back onto the pitch 16 minutes later. But now apparently, because there's going to be a concert, we'll be walking back out 20 to 25 minutes later. This could affect the players fitness. They could cool down too much. Those minutes of recovery in the dressing room, people don't understand what it takes to reach those levels."
Argentine celebrations Following Argentina's victory in the
final, a video live-streamed by
Enzo Fernández on social media showed the Argentine players celebrating with alleged racist chants toward the
French national team. The
French Football Federation announced it would be lodging a complaint with
FIFA. Fernández's club
Chelsea announced it would investigate the video. Some of Fernández's Chelsea teammates unfollowed him on all of his social media accounts, with his teammate
Wesley Fofana described it as "uninhibited racism". Fernández later apologized for the incident. Argentina President
Javier Milei congratulated the team for the victory. Many massive celebrations were held in Buenos Aires, Rosario, Córdoba and Mendoza. == See also ==