Copa América
| File:Copa América2.jpg | |
| Founded | 1916 |
|---|---|
| Region | South America (CONMEBOL) |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Current champions |  Brazil (8th title) |
| Most successful team(s) |  Uruguay  Argentina(14 titles each) |
| Website | conmebol.com |
 Copa América 2011 | |
Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the Copa América (Spanish and Portuguese for "America Cup"), is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL), the sport's continental governing body. After the abolition of the British Home Championship in 1984, the Copa América became association football's oldest national team competition.
The current tournament format involves 12 teams competing at venues in a host nation over a period of about a month. The confederation has only ten members in the confederation, so national teams from other FIFA confederations are invited to fill the other 2 places; Mexico has been a regular since being invited for the first time in 1993. In 42 tournaments, seven national teams have won the title. Argentina and Uruguay have won the Copa América a record 14 times each. Brazil, the current champions, have won eight titles, and Paraguay and Peru are next with two titles each. The other former champions are Colombia and Bolivia, with one title each.
The Copa América is one of the world's most widely viewed sporting events; the 2007 edition had an estimated television audience of 530 million people in Latin America and a worldwide cumulative audience of 4 billion people from 185 countries. The highest finishing member of CONMEBOL has the right to participate in the next edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, but is not obligated to do so.[1]
History
Beginnings
The first recorded association football match in South America was played in Argentina in 1867 by British railway workers. The first association football team in South America, Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata was created in Argentina in 1887, and the Argentine Football Association was founded in 1893. By the early twentieth century, football was growing in popularity, and the first international competition held between national teams of the continent occurred in 1910 when Argentina organized an event to commemorate the centenary of the May Revolution. Chile and Uruguay participated, but this event is not considered official by CONMEBOL. Similarly, for the centennial celebration of its independence, Argentina held a tournament between July 2 and July 17 of 1916 with Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil being the first participants of the tournament. This so-called Campeonato Sudamericano de Selecciones would be the first edition of what is currently known as Copa América; Uruguay would triumph in this first edition after tying 0-0 with hosts Argentina in the deciding, last match held in Estadio Racing Club in Avellaneda.
Seeing the success of the tournament, a boardmember of the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol or Uruguayan Football Association, Héctor Rivadavia, proposed the establishment of a confederation of the associations of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, and on July 9, independence day in Argentina, CONMEBOL was founded. The following year, the competition was played again, this time in Uruguay. Uruguay would win the title again to win their bicampeonato after defeating Argentina 1-0 in the last match of the tournament. The success of the tournament on Charrúan soil would help consolidate the tournament. After a flu outbreak in Rio de Janeiro canceled the tournament in 1918, Brazil hosted the tournament in 1919 and was crowned champion for the first time after defeating the defending champions 1-0 in a playoff match to decide the title, while the Chilean city of Viña del Mar would host the 1920 event which was won by Uruguay.
For the 1921 event, Paraguay participated for the first time after its football association affiliated to CONMEBOL earlier that same year. Argentina won the competition for the first time thanks to the goals of Julio Libonatti. In subsequent years, Uruguay would dominate the tournament, which at that time was the largest football tournament in the world. Argentina, however, would not be far behind and disputed the supremacy with the Charruas. After losing the 1928 final at the 1928 Summer Olympics held in Amsterdam, Argentina would gain revenge in the 1929 South American Championship by defeating the Uruguayans in the last, decisive match. During this period, both Bolivia and Peru debuted in the tournament in 1926 and 1927, respectively.
Disorganization and intermittency
After the first World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930, the enmity between the football federations of Uruguay and Argentina prevented the competition from being played for a number of years. Only in 1935 was it possible to dispute a special edition of the event to officially reinstated in 1939. Peru became the host nation of the 1939 edition and won the competition for the first time ever after a 2-1 victory over Uruguay. Ecuador made their debut at that tournament.
In 1941, Chile hosted that year's edition in celebration of the fourth anniversary of the founding of Santiago for which the capacity of the newly built Estadio Nacional was expanded from 30,000 to 70,000 spectators. Despite the large investment and initial success of the team, the Chileans would be defeated in the last match by eventual champions Argentina. Uruguay hosted and won the 1942 edition. Chile would host again in 1945 only to come agonizingly close to disputing the title with Argentina only for Brazil to spoil the possibility; Argentina would win the tournament once again on Chilean soil.
The event entered a period of great disruption. The championship was not played on a regular basis and many editions would be deemed unofficial, only to be considered valid later on by CONMEBOL. For example, Argentina would be the first (and so far only) team to win three consecutive titles by winning the championships of 1945, 1946 and 1947. After those three annual tournaments, the competition returned to being held every two years, then three and later four. There were even two tournaments held in 1959, one in Argentina and a second in Ecuador. During this period, some of the national teams were indifferent to the tournament. Some did not participate every year, others sent lesser teams; in the 1959 edition held in Ecuador, Brazil entered a team from the state of Pernambuco. Bolivia won for the first time when it hosted in 1963, but was defeated in the first game of the 1967 tournament by debutant Venezuela. The founding of the Copa Libertadores in 1959 also affected the way the tournament was viewed by its participants.
After eight years of absence, the event resumed in 1975 and officially acquired the name Copa América. The tournament had no fixed venue, and all matches were played throughout the year in each country. Nine teams participated in the group stages with the defending champions receiving a bye into the semifinals. The tournament was contested every four years using this system until 1987.
The renewed Copa América
In 1986, CONMEBOL decided to return to having one country host the tournament and to dispute it every other year. Since the 1987 Copa América, the event has been hosted every two years in rotation by the ten members of the confederation. The format would remain constant with a first round of groups, but the final round stage ranged from being a new, final round-robin group or a single-elimination system to decide the winner. This renewal helped the tournament, which began television coverage in Europe and North America. The 1987 Copa América was held in Argentina; this was the first time the nation has hosted an edition in 28 years. Despite entering as heavy favorites for being the reigning world champions (having won the 1986 FIFA World Cup, playing at home and having a team largely composed of its World Cup winners led by the legendary Diego Maradona, Argentina would finish in a disappointing fourth place after being beaten by defending champions Uruguay 0-1 in the semifinals. Uruguay would defeat a surprisingly strong Chilean squad who made it to the final, disposing of the powerful Brazil 4-0 on the group stage.
Brazil lifted its first official international title since the 1970 FIFA World Cup after winning the 1989 Copa América held on home soil. Argentina, in turn, won the Copa América after 32 long years in 1991 Copa América, held in Chile, thanks to a refreshed squad led by the prolific goalscorer Gabriel Batistuta. The 1993 Copa América tournament in Ecuador would take its current form. Along with the usual ten teams, CONMEBOL invited two countries from CONCACAF to participate, Mexico and the United States. Argentina will successfully defend their title.
Uruguay managed to win, as host, the competition in 1995 ending a period of decline for Uruguayan football. With the implementation of rotating hosts, Colombia, Paraguay and Venezuela hosted the tournament for the first time. Brazil entered a successful series of victories, winning four of the five continental titles between 1997 and 2007. The first, in 1997, was won after defeating host nation Bolivia 1-3 with goals from Leonardo, Denílson and Ronaldo becoming crucial in the Verde-Amarela's consegration on Bolivia's altitude. Brazil will successfully defend the title in 1999 after thumping Uruguay 3-0 in Asuncion, Paraguay. However, the 2001 Copa América saw one of the biggest surprises of the history of the sport as Honduras eliminated Brazil in the quaterfinals. Colombia, the host nation, would go on to win the competition for the first time ever.
Ruing from the embarrassing performance in 2001, Brazil reestablished itself in the South American pantheon after defeating Argentina, on penalties, in order to win the 2004 competition held in Peru. Three years later, the two teams met again in the final, this time in Venezuela. Once again, Brazil came out victorious after crushing Argentina 3-0.
Hosts
In 1984, CONMEBOL adopted the policy of rotating the right to host the Copa América amongst the ten member confederations. The first rotation has now been completed following the 2007 Copa América which took place in Venezuela. A second rotation has been agreed to begin in 2011, with host countries rotating in alphabetical order, starting with Argentina.[2] Chile, México and the United States expressed interest in hosting the next tournament, but the CONMEBOL Executive Committee decided to continue the execution of the rotation, giving priority of the organization of each to its member associations; each association confirms whether they will host an edition or not, having no obligation to do so. Argentina confirmed on November 24, 2008, via representatives of the Argentine Football Association, that it would host the 2011 Copa América.
The 2015 Copa América corresponds to be held in Brazil following the order of rotation. However, the implementation of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games in that nation forced to reconsider the decision. Although CONMEBOL President Nicolas Leoz proposed the realization of the continental tournament in Mexico (although of another confederation), the boardmembers of Brazil and Chile discussed the possibility of exchanging the 2015 and 2019 tournaments.
Each Copa América since 1987 has its own mascot or logo. Guardalito, the mascot for the 1987 competition, was the first Copa América mascot.
| Hosts | Editions |
|---|---|
| 9 | Argentina (1916, 1921, 1925, 1929, 1937, 1946, 1959, 1987, 2011)
|
| 7 | Uruguay (1917, 1923, 1924, 1942, 1956, 1967, 1995)
|
| 6 |  Chile (1920, 1926, 1941, 1945, 1955, 1991) Peru (1927, 1935, 1939, 1953, 1957, 2004)
|
| 4 | Brazil (1919, 1922, 1949, 1989)
|
| 3 |  Ecuador (1947, 1959, 1993)
|
| 2 |  Bolivia (1963, 1997)
|
| 1 |  Colombia (2001) Paraguay (1999) Venezuela (2007)
|
| 3 | No Host (1975, 1979, 1983) |
Format and rules
The tournament was previously known as sup Campeonato Sudamericano de Selecciones (South American Championship of National Teams). South American Championship of Nations was the official English language name. The current name has been used since 1975. Between 1975 and 1983 it had no host nation, and was held in a home and away fashion. The current final tournament features 12 national teams competing over a month in the host nation. There are two stages: the group stage followed by the knockout stage. In the group stage, teams compete within three groups of four teams each. Three teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the other seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings. The other teams are assigned to different "pots", usually based also on the FIFA Rankings, and teams in each pot are drawn at random to the three groups.
Each group plays a round-robin tournament, in which each team is scheduled for three matches against other teams in the same group. The last round of matches of each group is not scheduled at the same time unlike many tournaments around the world. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage as well as the two best third-place teams. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Since 1993, three points have been awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss (before, winners received two points).
The ranking of each team in each group will be determined as follows:
- a) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;
- b) goal difference in all group matches;
- c) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows:
- d) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
- e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
- f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;
- g) drawing of lots by the CONMEBOL Organising Committee (i.e. at random).
The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary; there is no extra time. It begins with the quarter-finals, then semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final.
Invitees
Since 1993, two teams from other confederations, usually from CONCACAF whose members are geographically and culturally close, are also invited. Nations receiving invitations are Costa Rica (1997, 2001, 2004), Honduras (2001), Japan (1999), Mexico (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007), and the United States (1993, 1995, 2007). The United States had been invited every time from 1997 to 2007 but frequently turned down the invitation due to scheduling conflicts with Major League Soccer. However, on October 30, 2006, the US Soccer Federation accepted the invitation for participation in the 2007 tournament, ending a 12 year absence. At 2001 Copa América, Canada was an invitee, but on July 6, 2001 withdrew because of security concerns.
Trophy
The Copa América trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the Copa América tournament, was donated to CONMEBOL by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina in 1916. The prestigious laurel was obtained from a jewelry shop in Buenos Aires at the cost of 3,000 Swiss francs. The trophy is a silver ornament with wooden base which contains several plaques. The plaques are engraved with every winner of the competition, as well as the edition won.
Results
South American Championship era
Copa América era
| Year | Host | Final | Third place match | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-Up | Third Place | Score | Fourth Place | ||
| 1975 | No fixed venue |  Peru |
0 – 1 / 2 – 0 Play-off 1 – 0 |
 Colombia |
 Brazil Uruguay
|
N/A[B] | |
| 1979 | No fixed venue |  Paraguay |
3 – 0 / 0 – 1 Play-off 0 – 0 a.e.t. |
 Chile |
Brazil Peru
|
N/A[B] | |
| 1983 | No fixed venue |  Uruguay |
2 – 0 / 1 – 1 |  Brazil |
 Paraguay Peru
|
N/A[B] | |
| 1987 | Argentina
|
Uruguay |
1 – 0 | Chile |
Colombia |
2 – 1 |  Argentina |
| 1989 | Brazil
|
Brazil |
1 – 0 | Uruguay |
Argentina |
0 – 0 |  Paraguay |
| 1991 | Chile
|
Argentina |
3 – 2 | Brazil |
Chile |
1 – 1 | Colombia |
| 1993 | Ecuador
|
Argentina |
2 – 1 |  Mexico |
Colombia |
1 – 0 |  Ecuador |
| 1995 | Uruguay
|
Uruguay |
1 – 1 5–3 pens |
 Brazil |
Colombia |
4 – 1 |  United States |
| 1997 | Bolivia
|
Brazil |
3 – 1 |  Bolivia |
Mexico |
1 – 0 | Peru |
| 1999 | Paraguay
|
Brazil |
3 – 0 | Uruguay |
Mexico |
2 – 1 | Chile |
| 2001 | Colombia
|
Colombia |
1 – 0 | Mexico |
 Honduras |
2 – 2 5–4 pens |
Uruguay |
| 2004 |  Peru
|
Brazil |
2 – 2 4–2 pens |
Argentina |
Uruguay |
2 – 1 | Colombia |
| 2007 |  Venezuela
|
Brazil |
3 – 0 | Argentina |
Mexico |
3 – 1 | Uruguay |
| 2011 | Argentina
|
||||||
- Key:
- Invited teams in italics
- pens – after penalty shootout
Given the size of the confederation (it is the smallest with only 10 members), every nation has been represented in the tournament. Recently, invitees from outside CONMEBOL have taken part in the competition in order to provide a more viable format to the competition. Seven nations have won the Copa América and only five have won it more than once. With 14 titles each, Argentina and Uruguay are the most successful Copa América teams. Brazil, the reigning champions, have won it 8 times with the majority of those titles being won after 1989. Argentina has made the most appearances in the final, with 26, while Uruguay have made the most appearances in the top four, with 34. Venezuela are the only members of CONMEBOL never to have reached the top four.
Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay are the only teams to win a Copa América outside their country; the forementioned three have won it four times each outside their nations while Paraguay did so once. Peru, Colombia and Bolivia have only won a Copa América as hosts (this does not take into account the Copa América tournaments held on a home and away format). Only Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil have won consecutive Copa Américas while Argentina is the only team to win it three times in a row. Mexico, who is from the CONCACAF, has had success, being runner-up twice and third place on several occasions.
Teams reaching the top four
- * = hosts
- ^ = invitees
See also
References
Footnotes
- A. ^ Only three teams entered the tournament.
- B. ^ No third place match was played; third place was shared.
- C. ^ There was no trophy being competed for in the 1916 tournament. It was competed for the first time in the 1917 tournament.
- D. ^ The tournament was an extra edition, with no trophy handed to the winners, but considered official by CONMEBOL.
External links
- The Copa América Archive - Trivia
- RSSSF archive - includes extensive match reports.
| Editions | |
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| Finals | |
| Squads | |
| Qualification | |
| Related topics | |
| Argentina (AFA) | |||||||
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| Bolivia (FBF) | |||||||
| Brazil (CBF) | |||||||
| Chile (FFC) | |||||||
| Colombia (FCF) | |||||||
| Ecuador (FEF) | |||||||
| Paraguay (APF) | |||||||
| Peru (FPF) | |||||||
| Uruguay (AUF) | |||||||
| Venezuela (FVF) | |||||||
| National team competitions | |||||||
| Club competitions |
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| Related topics | |||||||
International association football | ||
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| World (FIFA) |  | |
| Asia (AFC) | ||
| Africa (CAF) | ||
| North America (CONCACAF) | ||
| South America (CONMEBOL) | ||
| Oceania (OFC) | ||
| Europe (UEFA) | ||
| Inter-Continental |
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| Non-FIFA | ||