America Cup

The Copa América —officially the Conmebol Copa América— is the main official international men's soccer tournament in South America. Initially called the South American National Team Championship, South American Football Championship or simply South American Championship (in Portuguese Campeonato Sul-Americano de Seleções or Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol), acquired its current name in 1975. It is organized by the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) and its results have been officially recognized by FIFA. current champion is Argentina, which reached its fifteenth title after 28 years.

It has been won by eight of the ten Conmebol teams: Uruguay and Argentina, the tournament's top winners, have fifteen titles each; Brazil, nine; Peru, Paraguay and Chile, two; and Bolivia and Colombia, one. The title has never been obtained by a non-South American team.

In addition to the ten Conmebol teams, two invited teams usually participate, usually from Concacaf, although exceptions have occurred. Sixteen teams participated in the 2016 commemorative edition, ten from Conmebol and six from Concacaf. The 2021 championship was the first in which the invited teams were dispensed with, leaving the tournament exclusively for the Conmebol teams. To date, nineteen teams have participated.

It is the only continental tournament at the national team level in which there are no qualifying rounds —only in the 1967 and 2016 editions was there a preliminary qualifying phase (although in 2016 it was for North American teams). It also has some other particularities: it is the only tournament in which the runner-up receives a trophy (the Bolivian Cup) in which the fourth place receives a significant prize (the copper medal) and, in addition, all the participating teams (affiliated and invited) receive a diploma for competing.

At an international level, it is the soccer tournament at the senior national team level that has been held the most times, surpassing the Soccer World Cup, and it is also the sports mega-event that has been held the most times, surpassing the Olympic Games. It is one of the three main football events at the national team level, along with the Soccer World Cup (1930) and the European Championship (1960). This soccer tournament is the third oldest in the world at the level of absolute teams, after the British Home Championship (played between 1883-1884 and 1984), and the Olympic Games (whose first football tournament was played in 1908, and its last edition with absolute selections was in 1948).

History

Background

In the last decades of the XIX century and the first decades of the XX, soccer was a booming sport after its arrival in South America by immigrants and merchants of British origin. The first recorded soccer match in South America was played between British workers in the field of the Buenos Aires Cricket Club, located in the forests of Palermo (Argentina), on June 20, 1867.

The first international tournament held between teams from that subcontinent occurred in 1910, when Argentina organized an event to commemorate the centenary of the May Revolution, to which it invited the teams from Chile and Uruguay. On October 15, 1913 He set out to play a South American tournament and put a trophy called the Copa América on the line.

Beginnings

Uruguay's first-edition champion.

To celebrate the centenary of its independence, Argentina held a tournament between July 2 and 17, 1916, which was attended by the guests of the 1910 cup along with Brazil, consecrating Uruguay as champion of the tournament. This "South American National Team Championship" It was the first edition of what is currently known as the Copa América.

After Uruguay became champion, one of its leaders, Héctor Rivadavia Gómez, upon seeing the success of the tournament, proposed the foundation of a confederation that would bring together the federations of the four countries present. On July 9, 1916, leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay met in Buenos Aires to study the integrating idea of Héctor Rivadavia Gómez, which was approved by referendum of the respective national associations. Finally, on December 15 of that same year, in Montevideo, the Constitutional Congress was held, in which everything that had been done was ratified, giving birth to the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol or CSF).

Once Conmebol was founded, the following year the South American Championship was organized again, this time in Uruguay. For this, the confederation bought a trophy to present to the champion: a silver cup with a wooden base, purchased at a French jewelry store in Buenos Aires at a cost of 3,000 Swiss francs at the time.

The select group of four participants began in 1921, when the Paraguayan national team was admitted, an event in which Argentina achieved its first title. In subsequent years, Uruguay dominated the event, taking advantage of the team that consecrated them as Olympic champions, which at that time was the largest football tournament in the world. Argentina, however, was not far behind and disputed supremacy against the Charrúas, winning the 1925 and 1927 South American Championships.

The 1923 and 1924 editions were held in Uruguay, being the first time in history that the same country organized the tournament consecutively. The 1923 edition served to qualify for the 1924 Paris Olympic Games —only the champion qualified, who turned out to be Uruguay and who was also the Olympic champion. It was the first time that the tournament served to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Argentine team champion in 1925.

In 1925, for different reasons, only three teams participated, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, resulting in the edition with fewer participants in the history of the tournament. The curious thing was that despite applying the system of all against all, the three teams that played that edition had to face each other twice.

In the 1926 edition, the Bolivian team made its debut in the tournament. And in the 1927 edition, the Peru team made its debut in the tournament, curiously as host of it.

The 1927 edition served to qualify for the second time for the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games —only the champion (which turned out to be Argentina) and the runner-up (which turned out to be Uruguay) qualified. Coincidentally, both teams met in the final of the Olympic Games, and in the end Uruguay became two-time Olympic champion.

1930s and 1940s. Disorganization and intermittence

Plantel de Bolivia champion of the 1963 edition.

1935 was the last time the tournament served to qualify for the Olympic Games. In the 1937 edition held in Argentina, it began to be played at the end of 1936, making it the only edition that was held between two consecutive years (1936 and 1937).

Peru organized the tournament for the third time in 1939, when it won its first championship, defeating Uruguay in the final. Then the Ecuadorian team made its debut. In the 1945 edition held in Chile, the Mariscal Sucre Cup was also put into play, played between Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador, which ended up being obtained by Colombia. This was the only time another cup was on the line within the tournament.

From those years on, the event began to enter a stage of great disorganization. The championship was played without fixed time intervals and many events were unofficial, although they are currently considered valid by Conmebol. For example, Argentina was the first and only three-time champion to date by winning the 1945, 1946 and 1947 tournaments consecutively.

1970s and 1980s. Name change

Party between Argentina and Brazil by the A Group of the Americas Cup 1975 played in the Giant of Arroyito and which ended with a Brazilian victory for 1-0.

After eight years of interruption, the tournament was resumed in 1975, when it officially acquired the name Copa América. The old round-robin system used previously was replaced by a three-group system where three winners plus the defending champion met in a single-elimination system until the new champion was determined. This system, in which a fixed venue was not used when holding round-trip matches, was carried out every four years until 1987. The greatest incidence of this decision was that, for the first time, the ten affiliated teams in Conmebol participated. The system without a fixed venue was used only in the 1975, 1979 and 1983 editions. In these three editions, third place was not disputed either, which was shared by the two teams eliminated in the semifinals. The semifinals were defined by points in round-trip matches, and in the event that two teams finished equal on points, the goal difference would be used.

1990s and 2000s. The renewal of the tournament

José Perdomo raising the trophy of the American Cup won by Uruguay in 1987.

In 1986, Conmebol decided to renew the tournament and to do so, it restored the format of fixed venues. Starting with the 1987 Copa América, the event would be hosted on a rotating basis every two years, by the ten members of the confederation. The format would be maintained constantly, with a first round of groups, but the final round would vary between a new group phase or a direct elimination system, until the champion was obtained; and also in the direct elimination phases, extra time would be used in the event of finishing even during regulation time, and if the tie persists, the key would be defined from the penalty shootout. The renewed Copa América would allow a boom for the tournament, which began to be broadcast to Europe and North America.

In the editions (1989 and 1991), the tournament would change its format, which consisted of 2 groups of 5 teams, and the first 2 of each group would qualify for a final home run and would face each other in a league, and the The champion would be the team that obtained the most points in the final home run. The 1991 edition was the last edition, in which 2 points were awarded for games won, 1 point for tied games and 0 points for lost games.

In the 1993 Copa América, played in Ecuador, the tournament would adopt its current format. Along with the usual ten teams, Conmebol invited two CONCACAF countries. Of these twelve participants, three groups of four teams were created, with the best two from each group going to the second round and the two best classified teams, in third place in their group. Starting in the second round, a system of play-offs finally determined the team that won the championship. Since the 1993 edition, 3 points are awarded for games won, 1 point for tied games and 0 points for lost games. In this edition, the teams from Mexico and the United States would make their debut in the tournament.

When the rotation system was implemented, Paraguay, Colombia and Venezuela were able to host the tournament for the first time. In addition, Brazil began a successful series of triumphs, obtaining four of the five continental titles between 1997 and 2007.

During the 1997 Copa América held in Bolivia, an anecdotal event would occur that would make the runner-up team also receive a trophy, after Bolivia (host) lost the final against Brazil 3-1. that edition onwards, the runner-up would receive the Bolivia Cup as a consolation prize, an award that is given to them apart from the silver medals. In this edition the Costa Rican team would make its debut in the tournament.

The 1999 Copa América, held in Paraguay, would be the last Copa América of the XX century and Japan would participate in that edition, the first non-American team to participate in the tournament. Japan was invited to participate because it was the 100th anniversary of Japanese immigration to America.

Latin Cup Opening Ceremony 2007.

The 2001 Copa América held in Colombia (the first of the 21st century), had several drawbacks for its realization, due to problems of political instability and insecurity, especially with the FARC armed group. Due to these events, it was thought to remove the headquarters from Colombia. However, the edition was played in this country. The tournament was organized with strict security measures, for each participating team. Said edition is the one that had three invited teams, because Argentina withdrew from the tournament alleging death threats (its place was replaced by Honduras who was an emergency guest). The Canadian team was also invited to participate, which declined the invitation for the same reasons as Argentina. Its place was taken by the Costa Rican team.

After the 2007 Copa América, held in Venezuela, the rotation cycle established by Conmebol in 1986 came to an end. Chile, the United States and Mexico expressed interest in organizing the next tournament, but the Conmebol Executive Committee decided to continue with the granting of priority to the organization of each Cup through the repetition of the cycle of venues started in 1987, which means that each association must confirm if it decides to organize the Cup that corresponds to it, without having the obligation to do so.

2010s, disorganization and the Copa América Centenario

Since 2010, Conmebol decided that the tournament would be held every 4 years, to avoid intersecting with the qualifiers and other sporting mega-events. Also, from the 2011 Copa América, Conmebol decided to award individually the "best player" of the tournament, the "best youth player" of the tournament, the "best goalkeeper" of the tournament and the team deserving of the "Award Fair Play (Fair Play Award)". Conmebol also decided that fourth place would receive a significant prize, which would be the copper medal. For this edition, Japan was invited again, but due to the earthquake that the country suffered, they withdrew from the tournament; Spain was invited instead, but also withdrew because its players were on vacation; in the end, Costa Rica would be the other invited team.

Following the rotation order, the 2015 Copa América was to be held in Brazil; however, the holding of the 2013 Confederations Cup, the 2014 Soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in that country made them reconsider holding the tournament. Consequently, in March 2012 it was confirmed that Brazil and Chile exchanged the organizations of the 2015 and 2019 tournaments. This was the first time that the rotation order in the organization of the tournament was changed.

On October 25, 2012, it was announced that Conmebol and Concacaf reached an agreement to play, in an extraordinary way, a new version of the Copa América called Copa América Centenario, in celebration of the centenary of the first tournament disputed. The venue was awarded to the United States and was contested for the first time by sixteen teams (it was the edition with the most participants), since the traditional ten national teams from South America participated six from North America, Central America and the islands of the Caribbean. With this, the United States would become the first country not affiliated with Conmebol to organize the tournament. Also, for that edition, a single trophy was awarded, which was different from the original trophy, and unlike the original trophy, the champion team kept the right to keep the special trophy in perpetuity; By winning this edition, Chile will keep this special tournament.

In April 2017, Conmebol had decided that the 2019 Copa América would have sixteen participants, so the organizers had to define six teams from other continents as invited to the tournament; however, on May 4, 2018 it was announced that there would be twelve participants. After reducing the number of participating teams, Conmebol initially invited the United States and Mexico —the latter with a consecutive participation of 10 editions—, but both teams declined the invitation to participate in the 2019 Gold Cup. For For this reason, Conmebol later invited Qatar and Japan, champion and runner-up, respectively, of the 2019 Asian Cup.

From 1991 to the 2015 Copa América, the tournament champion attended the Confederations Cup as a representative of the region. In the event that the champion could not participate (by his own decision, because he has already qualified for it, or because he is not affiliated with Conmebol), his place was taken by the next best-ranked team, usually the runner-up.

2020s: Postponement of the 2020 edition and unification of calendars with the Eurocup

On April 9, 2019, at the 70th ordinary Conmebol congress that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it was announced that Argentina and Colombia would be the venues for the 2020 Copa América. The first edition with shared venues would take place a year after the 2019 Copa América in Brazil. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to postpone the edition to 2021, coinciding with the Eurocup that will also be held that same anus.

Finally, on May 20, 2021, Conmebol withdrew Colombia as the venue for the 2021 Copa América due to the lack of guarantees for its realization in the framework of the protests in Colombia, and on May 31, 2021 Argentina also it was withdrawn as a venue at the request of the Argentine government itself due to the situation of COVID-19 in the country; Conmebol granted the headquarters to Brazil just ten days after the tournament was played.

With the Copa América 2021 edition, Conmebol will unify calendars with the other confederations, mainly with UEFA; from 2021 the Copa América will be held every 4 years, always even. The next edition will be in 2024, based in the United States.

Trophy

Trophy of the American Cup

The trophy was made between 1916 and 1917 at Casa Escasany, a jewelry store in Buenos Aires, for a price of 3,000 Swiss francs, and was donated to the South American Football Confederation by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs. made of silver, placed on a wooden base on which the names of the champion teams of each edition are placed on plates. From its creation to the present, the champion of each competition has the right to keep the original trophy temporarily until the new draw for the Copa América, when it must be returned to Conmebol. After returning it, the champion receives a replica of it that he keeps permanently.

For the Copa América Centenario (2016), a special trophy was awarded, commemorating the centenary of the continental tournament. Chile, the Copa América Centenario champion, earned the right to keep the special trophy permanently.

Competition format

The Copa América has two phases: a group phase and a knockout phase, which is divided into the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Exceptionally, in two editions there was a qualifying phase for the contest.

Since the 1993 edition and up to the 2019 edition, the competition system used in the Copa América, in its group stage, was made up of three groups of four teams each, covering the twelve participating teams; the two best teams in each group qualified for the quarterfinals, as well as the two best third-placed teams. In the Copa América Centenario, to accommodate the new number of teams (16), the groups were divided into four instead of three. Previously, the tournament had three groups of four teams each, two groups of five teams each, three groups of three teams each, and a league format or round-robin system.

For the 2021 edition, the tournament will be held in two groups called South American zones. In the group stage, the ten participating teams will be divided into two groups of five teams each. It is played with a system of all against all, where each team plays a game with all its rivals in the group, thus having at least 4 games within the cup. The four best teams in each zone are classified according to the points obtained in each match, which are awarded as follows:

• 3 points per game won.
• 1 stitch per match tied.
• 0 points per game lost.

If at the end of the phase, two or more teams end up tied on points, the following tie-breaking criteria apply:

• Best goal difference in all games in the area.
• Increased number of goals scored in all matches in the area.
• If the tie stays, classify the winning party team played among the teams involved within the area.
• If the tie is still maintained after applying the above criteria, a draw will be made between the matched teams. The draw is carried out by a delegate appointed by the Conmebol Administrator Commission in the presence of representatives of the associations involved.
• If the dot tie occurs between two teams that play the last match of their respective group and if the tie persists after applying the first 3 criteria above, it proceeds to determine the performance by shooting from the criminal point.

In the quarterfinals, teams that have shared a group in the previous phase cannot face each other. The winners of each match in this phase qualify for the semifinals. The matches of the teams in the quarterfinals and the following phases are determined according to the tournament schedule.

Qualifying phase

It has been done very rarely:

• For the 1967 South American Championship, held in Uruguay, when faced Chile-Colombia and Ecuador-Paraguay.
• For the 2016 Centenary America Cup, held in the United States, when faced Haiti-Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba-Panama.
• From the American Cup 2024, held in the United States, will be played by the ten countries of Conmebol and the six best selections of Concacaf, prior classification.^{[chuckles]required]}

Participants

Participations of American selections in the tournament.

The number of participants has varied over the years and has gone from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 16. However, from the 1993 edition to the 2019 edition, it was common for the tournament to be held for 12 selections —except in 2016—. Usually, the ten teams that make up Conmebol participate, plus two invited countries from CONCACAF. For the 2016 edition, six teams from the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region participated, a record in the tournament. The exceptional circumstances that surrounded the 2021 tournament caused the return to the dispute of only 10 participants.

The first five editions (1916, 1917, 1919, 1920 and 1921) had only four participants. By 1922 the number was increased to five, but it decreased again in subsequent tournaments: the 1923 and 1924 editions were with four selected, while in 1925 the edition with the fewest number of participants occurred (only three selections). Since the 1926 tournament, the Copa América has slowly increased the number of participants, reaching ten teams in 1975. This number was maintained until 1993, when it increased to 12 teams, a figure exceeded in the 2016 edition, with the dispute of the Copa América Centenario (16 teams). To date, a total of twenty teams have participated in the tournament.

Number of participating teams per edition: 3 (1925), 4 (1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1927, 1929, 1935), 5 (1922, 1926, 1939, 1941, 1959- II), 6 (1937, 1946, 1956, 1967), 7 (1942, 1945, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959-I, 1963), 8 (1947, 1949), 10 (1975, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2021), 12 (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019) and 16 (2016).

Choice of venue

Countries that have organized the American Cup

The first editions alternated their headquarters among the participating teams, although without maintaining an established criteria. The 1975, 1979 and 1983 editions were the only ones that did not have a fixed venue.

In 1986, Conmebol determined several modifications to the contest. He decided to establish a tournament held at a fixed venue with compulsory attendance for its ten members. This system was implemented from the 1987 Copa América in Argentina, with the headquarters rotated among the members of Conmebol. This rotating system was completed with the 2007 Copa América in Venezuela, beginning a new cycle with the 2011 Copa América in Argentina.

Beyond the new cycle started, there were modifications in the designation of the venues. In particular, the Copa América Centenario was held in 2016 in the United States, a country that is not even a member of the confederation, therefore this was the first held outside of South America. In addition, the president of Conmebol, Alejandro Domínguez, is studying the possibility of using the double venue system in the future.

In total, the country that has organized the Copa América the most times is Argentina (9). They are followed by Chile and Uruguay (7), Brazil and Peru (6), Ecuador (3), Bolivia (2) and Colombia, the United States, Paraguay and Venezuela (1).

History

This table shows the results of the various editions of both the South American Championship and the Copa América. For more information on a particular tournament, see its specialized page in Details. In italics the invited teams not belonging to Conmebol are indicated.

Year	#	Equipment	Headquarters		Champion	Final Results	Subfield		Third	Results	Fourth
South American Championship
1916 Detail	I	4	Argentina	Uruguay (1)	Lig.	Argentina	Brazil	Lig.	Chile
1917 Detail	II	4	Uruguay	Uruguay (2)	Lig.	Argentina	Brazil	Lig.	Chile
1919 Detail	III	4	Brazil	Brazil (1)	1:0 (dog.)	Uruguay	Argentina	Lig.	Chile
1920 Detail	IV	4	Chile	Uruguay (3)	Lig.	Argentina	Brazil	Lig.	Chile
1921 Detail	V	4	Argentina	Argentina (1)	Lig.	Brazil	Uruguay	Lig.	Paraguay
1922 Detail	VI	5	Brazil	Brazil (2)	3:0	Paraguay	Uruguay	Lig.	Argentina
1923 Detail	VII	4	Uruguay	Uruguay (4)	Lig.	Argentina	Paraguay	Lig.	Brazil
1924 Detail	VIII	4	Uruguay	Uruguay (5)	Lig.	Argentina	Paraguay	Lig.	Chile
1925 Detail	IX	3	Argentina	Argentina (2)	Lig.	Brazil	Paraguay	Lig.
1926 Detail	X	5	Chile	Uruguay (6)	Lig.	Argentina	Chile	Lig.	Paraguay
1927 Detail	XI	4	Peru	Argentina (3)	Lig.	Uruguay	Peru	Lig.	Bolivia
1929 Detail	XII	4	Argentina	Argentina (4)	Lig.	Paraguay	Uruguay	Lig.	Peru
1935 Detail	XIII	4	Peru	Uruguay (7)	Lig.	Argentina	Peru	Lig.	Chile
1937 Detail	XIV	6	Argentina	Argentina (5)	2:0 (dog.)	Brazil	Uruguay	Lig.	Paraguay
1939 Detail	XV	5	Peru	Peru (1)	Lig.	Uruguay	Paraguay	Lig.	Chile
1941 Detail	XVI	5	Chile	Argentina (6)	Lig.	Uruguay	Chile	Lig.	Peru
1942 Detail	XVII	7	Uruguay	Uruguay (8)	Lig.	Argentina	Brazil	Lig.	Paraguay
1945 Detail	XVIII	7	Chile	Argentina (7)	Lig.	Brazil	Chile	Lig.	Uruguay
1946 Detail	XIX	6	Argentina	Argentina (8)	Lig.	Brazil	Paraguay	Lig.	Uruguay
1947 Detail	XX.	8	Ecuador	Argentina (9)	Lig.	Paraguay	Uruguay	Lig.	Chile
1949 Detail	XXI	8	Brazil	Brazil (3)	7:0	Paraguay	Peru	Lig.	Bolivia
1953 Detail	XXII	7	Peru	Paraguay (1)	3:2	Brazil	Uruguay	Lig.	Chile
1955 Detail	XXIII	6	Chile	Argentina (10)	Lig.	Chile	Peru	Lig.	Uruguay
1956 Detail	XXIV	6	Uruguay	Uruguay (9)	Lig.	Chile	Argentina	Lig.	Brazil
1957 Detail	XXV	7	Peru	Argentina (11)	Lig.	Brazil	Uruguay	Lig.	Peru
1959 Detail	XXVI	7	Argentina	Argentina (12)	Lig.	Brazil	Paraguay	Lig.	Peru
1959 Detail	XXVII	5	Ecuador	Uruguay (10)	Lig.	Argentina	Brazil	Lig.	Ecuador
1963 Detail	XXVIII	7	Bolivia	Bolivia (1)	Lig.	Paraguay	Argentina	Lig.	Brazil
1967 Detail	XXIX	6	Uruguay	Uruguay (11)	Lig.	Argentina	Chile	Lig.	Paraguay
Copa America
1975 Detail	XXX	10	South America	Peru (2)	0:12:01:0	Colombia	Brazil andUruguay
1979 Detail	XXXI	10	South America	Paraguay (2)	3:00:10:0 (dog.)	Chile	Brazil andPeru
1983 Detail	XXXII	10	South America	Uruguay (12)	2:01:1	Brazil	Paraguay andPeru
1987 Detail	XXXIII	10	Argentina	Uruguay (13)	1:0	Chile	Colombia	2:1	Argentina
1989 Detail	XXXIV	10	Brazil	Brazil (4)	Lig.	Uruguay	Argentina	Lig.	Paraguay
1991 Detail	XXXV	10	Chile	Argentina (13)	Lig.	Brazil	Chile	Lig.	Colombia
1993 Detail	XXXVI	12	Ecuador	Argentina (14)	2:1	Mexico	Colombia	1:0	Ecuador
1995 Detail	XXXVII	12	Uruguay	Uruguay (14)	1:1 (5:3 p.m.)	Brazil	Colombia	4:1	United States
1997 Detail	XXXVIII	12	Bolivia	Brazil (5)	3:1	Bolivia	Mexico	1:0	Peru
1999 Detail	XXXIX	12	Paraguay	Brazil (6)	3:0	Uruguay	Mexico	2:1	Chile
2001 Detail	XL	12	Colombia	Colombia (1)	1:0	Mexico	Honduras	2:2 (5:4 p.m.)	Uruguay
2004 Detail	XLI	12	Peru	Brazil (7)	2:2 (4:2 p.m.)	Argentina	Uruguay	2:1	Colombia
2007 Detail	XLII	12	Venezuela	Brazil (8)	3:0	Argentina	Mexico	3:1	Uruguay
2011 Detail	XLIII	12	Argentina	Uruguay (15)	3:0	Paraguay	Peru	4:1	Venezuela
2015 Detail	XLIV	12	Chile	Chile (1)	0:0 (dog.) (4:1 p.m.)	Argentina	Peru	2:0	Paraguay
2016 Detail	XLV	16	United States	Chile (2)	0:0 (dog.) (4:2 p.m.)	Argentina	Colombia	1:0	United States
2019 Detail	XLVI	12	Brazil	Brazil (9)	3:1	Peru	Argentina	2:1	Chile
2021 Detail	XLVII	10	Brazil	Argentina (15)	1:0	Brazil	Colombia	3:2	Peru
2024 Detail	XLVIII	16	United States	To dispute

Honours of Prizes

The list below shows the teams that have been in the top four of any edition of the tournament.

• In italics, indicates the tournament in which the team was local.

Selection	Champion	Subfield	Third place	Fourth place
ARGArgentina	15 (1921, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1937, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959-I, 1991, 1993, 2021)	14 (19161917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1935, 1942, 1959-II, 1967, 2004, 2007, 2015, 2016)	5 (1919, 1956, 1963, 1989, 2019)	2 (1922, 1987)
URUUruguay	15 (1916, 1917, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1935, 1942, 1956, 1959-II, 1967, 1983, 1987, 1995, 2011)	6 (1919, 1927, 1939, 1941, 1989, 1999)	9 (1921, 1922, 1929, 1937, 1947, 1953, 1957, 1975, 2004)	5 (1945, 1946, 1955, 2001, 2007)
BRABrazil	9 (1919, 1922, 1949, 1989, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007, 2019)	12 (1921, 1925, 1937, 1945, 1946, 1953, 1957, 1959-I, 1983, 1991, 1995, 2021)	7 (1916, 1917, 1920, 1942, 1959-II, 1975, 1979)	3 (1923, 1956, 1963)
PARParaguay	2 (1953, 1979)	6 (1922, 1929, 1947, 1949, 1963, 2011)	7 (1923, 1924, 1925, 1939, 1946, 1959-I, 1983)	7 (1921, 1926, 1937, 1942, 1967, 1989, 2015)
CHIChile	2 (2015, 2016)	4 (19551956, 1979, 1987)	5 (1926, 1941, 19451967, 1991)	11 (1916, 1917, 1919, 19201924, 1935, 1939, 1947, 1953, 1999, 2019)
PERPeru	2 (1939, 1975)	1 (2019)	8 (1927, 1935, 1949, 1955, 1979, 1983, 2011, 2015)	6 (1929, 1941, 19571959-I, 1997, 2021)
COLColombia	1 (2001)	1 (1975)	5 (1987, 1993, 1995, 2016, 2021)	2 (1991, 2004)
BOLBolivia	1 (1963)	1 (1997)	0	2 (1927, 1949)
MEXMexico	0	2 (1993, 2001)	3 (1997, 1999, 2007)	0
HONHonduras	0	0	1 (2001)	0
ECUEcuador	0	0	0	2 (1959-II, 1993)
USAUnited States	0	0	0	2 (1995, 2016)
VENVenezuela	0	0	0	1 (2011)

Consecutive champions

National teams that have won the Copa América consecutively and have become two-time champions (two consecutive titles) or three-time champions (three consecutive titles).

Selection	Tricampeonatos	Bicampeonates
ARGArgentina	1 (1945-1946-1947)	3 (1927-1929, 1957-1959-I, 1991-1993)
URUUruguay		3 (1916-1917, 1923-1924, 1983-1987)
BRABrazil		2 (1997-1999, 2004-2007)
CHIChile		1 (2015-2016)

Statistics

Historical table

Historical table ordered by the number of points won by each team throughout all the Copa Américas held to date. 3 points are considered for a game won and 1 point for a tie. This is merely figurative given that before the 1993 Copa América, 2 points were awarded for a game won and 1 for a draw.

Updated data to the American Cup 2021

Map showing how many times each country has come out champion of the American Cup.

#	Equipment	Titles	Part.	Points	PJ	PG	PE	P	GF	GC	Dif.
1	ARGArgentina	15	43	423	202	127	42	33	474	182	+292
2	URUUruguay	15	45	374	206	112	38	56	410	222	+188
3	BRABrazil	9	37	362	191	108	38	45	430	204	+226
4	PARParaguay	2	38	236	177	64	44	69	264	303	-39
5	CHIChile	2	40	234	188	67	33	88	291	316	-25
6	PERPeru	2	33	213	161	58	39	64	230	255	-25
7	COLColombia	1	23	172	124	49	25	50	142	191	-49
8	BOLBolivia	1	28	86	119	20	26	73	108	298	-190
9	ECUEcuador	0	29	74	126	16	26	84	134	327	-193
10	MEXMexico	0	10	70	48	19	13	16	66	62	+4
11	VENVenezuela	0	19	41	70	8	17	45	52	180	-128
12	CRCCosta Rica	0	5	18	17	5	3	9	17	31	-14
13	USAUnited States	0	4	17	18	5	2	11	18	29	-11
14	HONHonduras	0	1	10	6	3	1	2	7	5	+2
15	PANELPanama	0	1	3	3	1	0	2	4	10	-6
16	JPNJapan	0	2	3	6	0	3	3	6	15	-9
17	QATQatar	0	1	1	3	0	1	2	2	5	-3
18	JAMJamaica	0	2	0	6	0	0	6	0	9	-9
19	HAIHaiti	0	1	0	3	0	0	3	1	12	-11

Goals

• Major goals:

They show the goals of 7 or more different goals.

Winner	Outcome	Rival	Edition
ARGArgentina	12-0	ECUEcuador	Uruguay 1942
ARGArgentina	11-0	VENVenezuela	1975
BRABrazil	10-1	BOLBolivia	Brazil 1949
URUUruguay	9-0	BOLBolivia	Peru 1927
BRABrazil	9-0	COLColombia	Peru 1957
ARGArgentina	9-1	COLColombia	Chile 1945
BRABrazil	9-1	ECUEcuador	Brazil 1949
BRABrazil	9-2	ECUEcuador	Chile 1945
ARGArgentina	8-0	PARParaguay	Chile 1926
BRABrazil	8-1	BOLBolivia	Peru 1953
URUUruguay	7-0	ECUEcuador	Uruguay 1942
URUUruguay	7-0	COLColombia	Chile 1945
ARGArgentina	7-0	BOLBolivia	Ecuador 1947
PARParaguay	7-0	BOLBolivia	Brazil 1949
BRABrazil	7-0	PARParaguay	Brazil 1949
URUUruguay	7-0	BOLBolivia	Argentina 1959
CHIChile	7-0	VENVenezuela	1979
BRABrazil	7-0	PERPeru	Bolivia 1997
BRABrazil	7-0	VENVenezuela	Paraguay 1999
CHIChile	7-0	MEXMexico	United States 2016

Historical scorers table

Note: In bold active players selectable by your selection.

Norberto Méndez (ARG, izq.) and Zizinho (BRA, der.), tournament top scorers.

Pos.	Player	G.	PJ.	Prom.	Debut	Selection
1	Norberto Méndez	17	17	1.00	Chile 1945	Argentina
=	Zizinho	17	33	0.52	Uruguay 1942	Brazil
3	Severino Varela	15	15	1.00	Argentina 1937	Uruguay
=	Teodoro Fernández	15	24	0.63	Peru 1935	Peru
5	Eduardo Vargas	14	23	0.61	Chile 2015	Chile
=	Paolo Guerrero	14	25	0.56	Venezuela 2007	Peru
7	José Manuel Moreno	13	16	0.81	Chile 1941	Argentina
=	Gabriel Batistuta	13	16	0.81	Chile 1991	Argentina
=	Hector Scarone	13	18	0.72	Uruguay 1917	Uruguay
=	Ademir	13	18	0.72	Chile 1945	Brazil
=	Jair	13	18	0.72	Chile 1945	Brazil
=	Lionel Messi	13	34	0.38	Venezuela 2007	Argentina
12	Roberto Porta	12	20	0.60	Peru 1939	Uruguay
=	Roman Angel	12	23	0.52	Argentina 1916	Uruguay
15	Masantonio Hermini	11	8	1.38	Peru 1935	Argentina
=	Didi	11	17	0.65	Peru 1953	Brazil
17	Pedro Petrone	10	9	1.11	Uruguay 1923	Uruguay
=	Javier Ambrois	10	11	0.91	Uruguay 1956	Uruguay
=	Ronaldo	10	12	0.83	Bolivia 1997	Brazil
=	Héctor Castro	10	13	0.77	Chile 1926	Uruguay
=	Angel Labruna	10	14	0.71	Argentina 1946	Argentina
=	Enrique Hormazábal	10	16	0.63	Peru 1953	Chile
=	Óscar Sánchez	10	17	0.59	Peru 1953	Peru
=	Arnold Iguaran	10	19	0.53	Argentina 1987	Colombia
25	Humberto Maschio	9	6	1.50	Peru 1957	Argentina
=	Heleno de Freitas	9	10	0.90	Chile 1945	Brazil
=	Nicolas Falero	9	10	0.90	Chile 1945	Uruguay
=	Raúl Toro	9	12	0.75	Argentina 1937	Chile
=	Juan Bautista Villalba	9	12	0.75	Argentina 1946	Paraguay
=	Luis Hernández	9	12	0.75	Bolivia 1997	Mexico
=	Maximum Mosquera	9	20	0.45	Ecuador 1947	Peru
=	Sergio Agüero	9	24	0.38	Argentina 2011	Argentina
=	Victor Ugarte	9	30	0.30	Ecuador 1947	Bolivia

Updated to the last game played by any of those involved on July 10, 2021.

Players with the most matches played

Note: In bold players selectable by your selection.

Sergio Livingstone (CHI, izq.) and Lionel Messi (ARG, der.), players with more tournament matches.

Pos.	Player	PJ.	Debut	Selection
1	Sergio Livingstone	34	Chile 1941	Chile
=	Lionel Messi	34	Venezuela 2007	Argentina
3	Zizinho	33	Uruguay 1942	Brazil
4	Victor Ugarte	30	Ecuador 1947	Bolivia
5	Leonel Alvarez	27	Argentina 1987	Colombia
=	Carlos Valderrama	27	Argentina 1987	Colombia
=	Gary Medel	27	Argentina 2011	Chile
=	Yoshimar Yotún	27	Argentina 2011	Peru
9	Javier Mascherano	26	Peru	Argentina
10	Felix Castillo	25	Ecuador 1947	Peru
=	Alex Aguinaga	25	Argentina 1987	Ecuador
=	Claudio Taffarel	25	Brazil 1989	Brazil
=	Claudio Bravo	25	Peru	Chile
=	Paolo Guerrero	25	Venezuela 2007	Peru
15	Teodoro Fernández	24	Peru 1935	Peru
=	José Bustamante	24	Argentina 1946	Bolivia
=	Cornelius Heredia	24	Ecuador 1947	Peru
=	Mauritius	24	Argentina 2011	Chile
=	Arturo Vidal	24	Argentina 2011	Chile
=	Sergio Agüero	24	Argentina 2011	Argentina
21	Roman Angel	23	Argentina 1916	Uruguay
=	Alberto Acha	23	Chile 1945	Bolivia
=	Carlos Sánchez	23	Ecuador 1947	Ecuador
=	Carlos Borja	23	South America 1979	Bolivia
	Alexis Sánchez	23	Argentina 2011	Chile
=	Charles Aránguiz	23	Chile 2015	Chile
=	Eduardo Vargas	23	Chile 2015	Chile
=	Pedro Gallese	23	Chile 2015	Peru
=	Christian Cueva	23	Chile 2015	Peru
=	Angel Di Maria	23	Argentina 2011	Argentina

Updated to the last game played by any of those involved on July 10, 2021

Awards and recognitions

In addition to receiving the Copa América until the next edition, the champion team receives a replica and 50 gold medals at the end of the competition. The runner-up team is awarded the Bolivian Cup and 50 silver medals; to the team that gets third place, 50 bronze medals; and to the team that is located in fourth place, 50 copper medals. All participating teams are given a diploma to certify their participation in said competition.

The following footballers are also awarded a personal trophy: the best player, the best youth player, the goalscorer and the best goalkeeper. The team deserving of "Fair Play" receives the Fair Play trophy >.

Best player by edition

Luis Suárez (URU, izq.) and Dani Alves (BRA, der.) with the trophy the best player in the tournament (2011 and 2019 respectively).

The distinction for the best player of the tournament began to be awarded officially from the 1987 edition.

Player	Selection	Year
Carlos Valderrama	COLColombia	1987
Ruben Sosa	URUUruguay	1989
Leonardo Rodríguez	ARGArgentina	1991
Sergio Goycochea	ARGArgentina	1993
Enzo Francescoli	URUUruguay	1995
Ronaldo	BRABrazil	1997
Rivaldo	BRABrazil	1999
Beloved Guevara	HONHonduras	2001
Adriano Leite Ribeiro	BRABrazil	2004
Robinho	BRABrazil	2007
Luis Suárez	URUUruguay	2011
Lionel Messi (rejected the trophy)	ARGArgentina	2015
Alexis Sánchez	CHIChile	2016
Dani Alves	BRABrazil	2019
Lionel Messi	ARGArgentina	2021

Best goalkeeper by edition

Claudio Bravo (CHI), the player who has most often been the tournament's best archer (2015 and 2016).

Since the 2011 Copa América, Conmebol has awarded the best goalkeeper of the tournament.

Player	Selection	Year
Just Villar	PARParaguay	2011
Claudio Bravo	CHIChile	2015
Claudio Bravo	CHIChile	2016
Alisson Becker	BRABrazil	2019
Emiliano Martínez	ARGArgentina	2021

Fair Play Award for editing

Since the 2011 Copa América, Conmebol has rewarded the team deserving of “Fair Play”.

Selection	Year
URUUruguay	2011
PERPeru	2015
ARGArgentina	2016
BRABrazil	2019
URUUruguay	2021

Bolivian Cup by edition

Since the 1997 Copa América, Conmebol has awarded the runner-up team of the tournament with the Copa Bolivia.

Subfield	Year
BOLBolivia	1997
URUUruguay	1999
MEXMexico	2001
ARGArgentina	2004
ARGArgentina	2007
PARParaguay	2011
ARGArgentina	2015
No trophy was delivered.	2016
PERPeru	2019
BRABrazil	2021

Scorers by edition

Jair Rosa Pinto (BRA).

Humberto Maschio (ARG).

Javier Ambrois (URU).

Jair (in 1949), Maschio and Ambrois (both in 1957) are the highest scorers in a single edition (9 goals each).

Pedro Petrone (URU).

Paolo Guerrero (PER).

Players who were most often the winner of a tournament edition, three in total (1923, 1924 and 1927; and 2011, 2015 and 2019 respectively)

Player	Selection	Edition	Goles
Isabelino Gradín	URUUruguay	1916	3
Roman Angel	URUUruguay	1917	4
Arthur Friedenreich Neco	BRABrazil BRABrazil	1919	4
José Pérez Roman Angel	URUUruguay URUUruguay	1920	3
Julio Libonatti	ARGArgentina	1921	3
Juan France	ARGArgentina	1922	4
Pedro Petrone Vicente Aguirre	URUUruguay ARGArgentina	1923	3
Pedro Petrone	URUUruguay	1924	4
Manuel Seoane	ARGArgentina	1925	6
David Arellano	CHIChile	1926	7
Alfredo Carricaberry Second Moon Roberto Figueroa Pedro Petrone Hector Scarone	ARGArgentina ARGArgentina URUUruguay URUUruguay URUUruguay	1927	3
Aurelio González	PARParaguay	1929	5
Masantonio Hermini	ARGArgentina	1935	4
Raúl Toro	CHIChile	1937	7
Lolo Fernández	PERPeru	1939	7
Juan Andrés Marvezzi	ARGArgentina	1941	5
Masantonio Hermini José Manuel Moreno	ARGArgentina ARGArgentina	1942	7
Norberto Méndez Heleno de Freitas	ARGArgentina BRABrazil	1945	6
José María Medina	URUUruguay	1946	7
Nicolas Falero	URUUruguay	1947	8
Jair	BRABrazil	1949	9
Francisco Molina	CHIChile	1953	7
Rodolfo Micheli	ARGArgentina	1955	8
Enrique Hormazábal	CHIChile	1956	4
Humberto Maschio Javier Ambrois	ARGArgentina URUUruguay	1957	9
Pele	BRABrazil	1959-I	8
José Sanfilippo	ARGArgentina	1959-II	6
Carlos Alberto Raffo	ECUEcuador	1963	6
Luis Artime	ARGArgentina	1967	5
José Ernesto Díaz Leopoldo Jacinto Luque	COLColombia ARGArgentina	1975	4
Eugenio Morel Jorge Peredo	PARParaguay CHIChile	1979	4
Carlos Alberto Aguilera Roberto Dinamite Jorge Burruchaga Eduardo Malásquez	URUUruguay BRABrazil ARGArgentina PERPeru	1983	3
Arnold Iguaran	COLColombia	1987	4
Drink	BRABrazil	1989	6
Gabriel Omar Batistuta	ARGArgentina	1991	6
José Luis Dolgetta	VENVenezuela	1993	4
Gabriel Omar Batistuta Luis García	ARGArgentina MEXMexico	1995	4
Luis Hernández	MEXMexico	1997	6
Rivaldo Ronaldo	BRABrazil BRABrazil	1999	5
Victor Hugo Aristizábal	COLColombia	2001	6
Adriano	BRABrazil	2004	7
Robinho	BRABrazil	2007	6
Paolo Guerrero	PERPeru	2011	5
Eduardo Vargas Paolo Guerrero	CHIChile PERPeru	2015	4
Eduardo Vargas	CHIChile	2016	6
Everton Paolo Guerrero	BRABrazil PERPeru	2019	3
Lionel Messi Luis Díaz	ARGArgentina COLColombia	2021	4

Best young player by edition

Lionel Messi (ARG).

Sebastian Coates (URU).

Jeison Murillo (COL).

Best junior players in the tournament.

Since the 2007 Copa América, Conmebol has awarded the best youth player of the tournament, who has been chosen among the youngest players of each participating team. However, the distinction has not been made since the 2016 Copa América.

Player	Selection	Year
Lionel Messi	ARGArgentina	2007
Sebastián Coates	URUUruguay	2011
Jeison Murillo	COLColombia	2015

Invited teams

In total, nine have been the invited teams since 1993, when two non-Conmebol members participated in the contest. Preferably, the teams that belong to Concacaf are invited, except in 1999 and 2019:

• In 1999, the selection of Japan, a member of the AFC, became the first non-American nation to do so.
• In 2019 the Japanese selection was again invited, this time along with the debutant selection of Catar, also a member of the AFC.

Of the invited teams, Mexico, with two runners-up, and Honduras, with a third place, were the teams with the best results.

Country	Confederation		Participation	Better result
MEXMexico	Concacaf	10	1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2016.	Finalist (1993 and 2001)
CRCCosta Rica	Concacaf	5	1997, 2001, 2004, 2011 and 2016.	Final rooms (2001 and 2004)
USAUnited States	Concacaf	4	1993, 1995, 2007 and 2016.	Fourth Place (1995 and 2016)
JPNJapan	AFC	2	1999 and 2019.	Group phase
JAMJamaica	Concacaf	2	2015 and 2016.	Group phase
HONHonduras	Concacaf	1	2001.	Third place (2001)
HAIHaiti	Concacaf	1	2016.	Group phase
PANELPanama	Concacaf	1	2016.	Group phase
QATQatar	AFC	1	2019.	Group phase

• In italics participation as host.