Copa América
The Copa América is a football competition between South American national teams. Since 1993, Mexico has also been among the participants and other national teams have occasionally been invited as well. In the beginning, the tournament was held every year, which was later changed to every other year.
Copa América was originally named the South American Football Championship (Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol in Spanish). In 1975, the tournament was renamed Copa América.
Winners and runners-up
All the hosts, winners and runners-up through the years of the Copa América.
| Season | Host | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Brazil† | Argentina | Brazil |
| 2019 | Brazil | Brazil | Peru |
| 2016* | USA | Chile | Argentina |
| 2015 | Chile | Chile | Argentina |
| 2011 | Argentina | Uruguay | Paraguay |
| 2007 | Venezueka | Brazil | Argentina |
| 2004 | Peru | Brazil | Argentina |
| 2001 | Colombia | Colombia | Mexico |
| 1999 | Paraguay | Brazil | Uruguay |
| 1997 | Bolivia | Brazil | Bolivia |
| 1995 | Uruguay | Uruguay | Brazil |
| 1993 | Ecuador | Argentina | Mexico |
| 1991 | Chile | Argentina | Brazil |
| 1989 | Brazil | Brazil | Uruguay |
| 1987 | Argentina | Uruguay | Chile |
| 1983 | - | Uruguay | Brazil |
| 1979 | - | Paraguay | Chile |
| 1975 | - | Peru | Colombia |
| 1967 | Uruguay | Uruguay | Argentina |
| 1963 | Bolivia | Bolivia | Paraguay |
| 1959 | Ecuador | Uruguay | Brazil |
| 1959 | Argentina | Argentina | Argentina |
| 1957 | Peru | Argentina | Brazil |
| 1956 | Uruguay | Uruguay | Chile |
| 1955 | Chile | Argentina | Chile |
| 1953 | Peru | Argentina | Brazil |
| 1949 | Brazil | Brazil | Paraguay |
| 1947 | Ecuador | Argentina | Paraguay |
| 1946 | Argentina | Argentina | Brazil |
| 1945 | Chile | Argentina | Brazil |
| 1942 | Uruguay | Uruguay | Argentina |
| 1941 | Chile | Argentina | Uruguay |
| 1939 | Peru | Peru | Uruguay |
| 1937 | Argentina | Argentina | Brazil |
| 1935 | Peru | Uruguay | Argentina |
| 1929 | Argentina | Argentina | Paraguay |
| 1927 | Peru | Argentina | Uruguay |
| 1926 | Chile | Uruguay | Argentina |
| 1925 | Argentina | Argentina | Brazil |
| 1924 | Uruguay | Uruguay | Argentina |
| 1923 | Uruguay | Uruguay | Argentina |
| 1922 | Brazil | Brazil | Paraguay |
| 1921 | Argentina | Argentina | Brazil |
| 1920 | Chile | Uruguay | Argentina |
| 1919 | Brazil | Brazil | Uruguay |
| 1917 | Uruguay | Uruguay | Argentina |
| 1916 | Argentina | Uruguay | Argentina |
* This edition was named Copa América Centenario and was a celebration of the tournament's 100th year anniversary.
† Argentina was the original host, but withdrew from the hostship due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Note 1. Between 1975 and 1983, the tournament was played with no fixed host.
Note 2. Regarding 1959, this is not an error, there were two tournaments held in 1959.
History
From an historical perspective, there is an obvious lack of in continuity of the competition marked by several irregularities and a few larger gaps between tournaments. Between 1929 and 1935 due to the antagonism between the leading football nation on the continent Argentina and Uruguay that arose after the World Cup final in 1930, no competitions were played. Between 1967 and 1975, partly due the emergency of the Copa Libertadores that was founded in 1960, there was another hiatus.
After the
eight-year break, the tournament was renamed from Campeonato Sudamericano to Copa América and a home-and-away format was introduced.
From 1975 to 1987 the tournament included nine teams in a three-groups structure. In 1991 all ten Conmebol members were included in a two-group structure.
In 1993, the tournament was expanding to twelve teams and since then other nations has been invited to fill up the 12-team structure. Mexico has participated regularly since 1993, and besides Mexico, Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Qatar, United States has been participated in Copa América. Among the non-original nations, none have so far won the tournament; Mexico have been closest with two second places.
In 2016, the competition was for the first time held outside South America with USA as hosts. This coincided with the 100th year anniversary of the Copa América.
Statistics
These are the nations with the most titles (1916-2021):
| Team | Titles | Participation |
|---|---|---|
| Uruguay | 15 | 45 |
| Argentina | 15 | 43 |
| Brazil | 9 | 28 |
| Peru | 2 | 33 |
| Paraguay | 2 | 38 |
| Chile | 2 | 40 |
| Bolivia | 1 | 28 |
| Colombia | 1 | 23 |
Ecuador is the nation with most participations (29) that haven't won a title.
Media
Highlights from 2021 Copa América Final:
External resources
References:
Jonathan Wilson, Angels with Dirty Faces (2016)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_Am%C3%A9rica