SAO PAULO, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Australia and Qatar have been invited to take part in the 2020 Copa America, South America's football governing body CONMEBOL announced on Thursday.

Contested between national teams from South America, the Copa America usually features 12 teams but CONMEBOL only has 10 members, meaning there is often a pair of invitees to the tournament. Qatar and Japan are the guest teams at this year's Copa, which starts in Brazil on Friday

Qatar, the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup champions, will be making their Copa America debut at this year's edition of the tournament.

2020 will be the third Copa for Australia, who left the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and joined the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 2006, winning the AFC Asian Cup in 2015 at only their third attempt.