[1] The tournament provided two direct qualifying places and a play-off place (against the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF) for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France,[2] one direct qualifying place and a play-off place (against the second-placed team from CAF) for the 2020 Summer Olympic women's football tournament in Japan,[3] and three (teams finishing third to fifth) for the 2019 Pan American Games women's football tournament in Lima, besides Peru who qualified automatically as hosts.

[11] The draw of the tournament was held on 1 March 2018, 13:00 CLST (UTC−3), at the ANFP Auditorium in Santiago, Chile.

The hosts Chile and the defending champions Brazil were seeded into Groups A and B respectively, while the remaining teams were placed into four "pairing pots" according to their results in the 2014 Copa América Femenina.

If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order (Regulations Article 18.1):[14] The top two teams of each group advanced to the final stage.

Argentina qualified by winning the play-off against the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship fourth-placed team, Panama.