Montevideo, Nov 26 (IANS): The 2015 Copa America championship, to be held in Chile next summer, is gearing up to be a tough tournament to win, Uruguay's top football official has said.

According to the president of the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF), Wilmar Valdez, "all the teams have their work cut out for them, because this Copa America will be highly competitive," reports Xinhua.

"For the first time, there are four or five national teams that are favorites to win," Valdez said Tuesday, adding, "The (2014 Brazil) World Cup showed the South Americans' level of play".

The draw of lots for the teams took place Monday in Chile 's Vina del Mar resort, placing defending champion Uruguay in Group B.

They will play Jamaica June 13 in Antofagasta, Argentina June 16 in La Serena, and Paraguay June 20 also in Serena in the initial group round.

"The advantage is that Uruguay will play to back-to-back games in the same city," said Valdez.

"While Chile isn't that big. We're coming from a World Cup where Uruguay had to travel long distances between the venues we played."

Group A has Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Bolivia and Group C, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela.

"Though we would have preferred to be in the same group as Chile, we think (Group B) is quite good," said Valdez.