Copa América

South american english association football tournament

Football tournament
Copa América ( english : America Cup ) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship ( Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol in spanish and Copa Sul-Americana de Futebol in Portuguese ), [ 1 ] is the independent men ‘s football tournament contested among national teams from South America. It is the oldest still-running continental football competition, equally well as the third base most watched in the world. [ 2 ] The competition determines the champions of South America. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Since the 1990s, teams from North America and Asia have besides been invited to compete.

Reading: Copa América

Since 1993, the tournament has broadly featured 12 teams—all 10 CONMEBOL teams and two extra teams from other confederations. Mexico participated in every tournament between 1993 and 2016, with one extra team guide from CONCACAF, except for 1999, when AFC team Japan filled out the 12-team roll, and 2019, which featured Japan and Qatar. The 2016 adaptation of the consequence, Copa América Centenario, featured 16 teams, with six teams from CONCACAF in addition to the 10 from CONMEBOL. [ 5 ] Mexico ‘s two runner-up finishes are the highest for a non-CONMEBOL side. Eight of the ten CONMEBOL home teams have won the tournament at least once in its 47 stagings since the event ‘s inauguration in 1916, with merely Ecuador and Venezuela however to win. Argentina and Uruguay have the most championships in the tournament ‘s history, with 15 cups each. Argentina, which hosted the inaugural version in 1916, has hosted the tournament the most times ( nine ). The United States is the lone non-CONMEBOL state to host, having hosted the consequence in 2016. On three occasions ( in 1975, 1979, and 1983 ), the tournament was held in multiple South american countries .

history [edit ]

Beginnings [edit ]

The Uruguay team that won its beginning title in 1916 . Brazil achieved its first championship in 1919. The first football team in South America, Lima Cricket and Football Club, was established in Peru in 1859, and the Argentine Football Association was founded in 1893. By the early twentieth hundred, football was growing in popularity, and the inaugural external competition held among home teams of the continent occurred in 1910 when Argentina organized an event to commemorate the centennial 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 2 and 17 July 1916 with Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil being the first participants of the tournament. This alleged Campeonato Sudamericano de Football would be the beginning version of what is presently known as Copa América ; Uruguay would triumph in this first base edition after tying 0–0 with hosts Argentina in the decide, last match held in Estadio Racing Club in Avellaneda. Seeing the success of the tournament, a boardmember of the Uruguayan Football Association, Héctor Rivadavia, proposed the establishment of a alliance of the associations of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, and on 9 July, independence day in Argentina, CONMEBOL was founded. The keep up class, the competition was played again, this prison term in Uruguay. Uruguay would win the entitle again to win their bicampeonato after defeating Argentina 1–0 in the final match of the tournament. The achiever of the tournament on Charrúan territory would help consolidate the tournament. After a influenza outbreak in Rio de Janeiro canceled the tournament in 1918, Brazil hosted the tournament in 1919 and was crowned champion for the first base time after defeating the defend champions 1–0 in a playoff match to decide the title, while the Chilean city of Viña del Mar would host the 1920 consequence which was won by Uruguay. For the 1921 event, Paraguay participated for the first prison term after its football association affiliated to CONMEBOL earlier that same class. Argentina won the rival for the first gear clock 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 earth. Argentina, however, would not be far behind and disputed the domination with the Charruas. After losing the 1928 concluding at the 1928 Summer Olympics held in Amsterdam, Argentina would gain retaliation 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 intermittence [edit ]

After the beginning World Cup held in Uruguay in 1930, the hostility between the football federations of Uruguay and Argentina prevented the competition from being played for a number of years. merely in 1935 was it possible to dispute a limited edition of the event to be formally reinstated in 1939. Peru became the host nation of the 1939 edition and won the competition for the first base time. Ecuador made their debut at that tournament. In 1941, Chile hosted that class ‘s edition in celebration of the four-hundredth anniversary of the establish of Santiago for which the capability of the newly built Estadio Nacional was expanded from 30,000 to 70,000 spectators. Despite the boastfully investment and initial achiever of the team, the Chileans would be defeated in the final match by eventual champions Argentina. Uruguay hosted and won the 1942 edition. Chile would host again in 1945, and came close to playing for the title against Argentina. however, Brazil spoiled that possibility, and Argentina would win the tournament once again on Chilean territory. The event then entered a period of great break. The championship was not played on a regular footing and many editions would be deemed unofficial, only to be considered valid late on by CONMEBOL. For example, Argentina would be the beginning ( and thus 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 gear in Ecuador. During this period, some of the national teams were apathetic to the tournament. Some did not participate every class, others sent lesser teams ; in the 1959 version held in Ecuador, Brazil entered a team from the submit 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 initiation of the Copa Libertadores in 1959 besides affected the means the tournament was viewed by its participants. After eight years of absence, the event resumed in 1975 and formally 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 adieu into the semifinals. The tournament was contested every four years using this system until 1987 .

refilling [edit ]

In 1986, CONMEBOL decided to return to having one state host the tournament and to contest it every early year. From 1987 until 2001, the event was hosted every two years in rotation by the ten members of the confederation. The format would remain ceaseless with a first round of groups, but the final examination 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 to receive television coverage in Europe and North America. The 1987 Copa América was held in Argentina ; this was the first fourth dimension the nation had hosted an edition in 28 years. Despite entering as heavy favorites for being the reigning worldly concern champions ( having won the 1986 FIFA World Cup ), playing at family 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 amazingly strong Chilean squad who made it to the concluding, disposing of the knock-down Brazil 4–0 on the group stage. Brazil lifted its beginning official international title since the 1970 FIFA World Cup upon winning the 1989 Copa América held on home territory. Argentina, in turn, won the Copa América after 32 farseeing years in 1991 in Chile, thanks to a refreshed team led by the prolific goalscorer Gabriel Batistuta. The 1993 Copa América tournament in Ecuador would take its current class. Along with the common ten teams, CONMEBOL invited two countries from CONCACAF to participate, Mexico and the United States. Uruguay managed to win the contest in 1995 as master of ceremonies, ending a period of decay for Uruguayan football. With the execution of rotating hosts, Colombia, Paraguay and Venezuela hosted the tournament for the first time. Brazil entered a series of victories, winning four of the five continental titles between 1997 and 2007. The first, in 1997, was won after defeating host state Bolivia 1–3 with goals from Leonardo, Denílson and Ronaldo becoming all-important in the Verde-Amarela’ s consagration on Bolivia ‘s elevation. Brazil would 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 quarterfinals. Colombia, the host state, would go on to win the competition for the inaugural time ever. From 2001 to 2007, the tournament was contested every three years, and from 2007 fore every four years, with the exception of the tournament ‘s centennial in 2016. Running from an embarrassing performance in 2001, Brazil reestablished itself in the south american pantheon after defeating Argentina, on penalties, in regulate to win the 2004 competition held in Peru. Three years late, the two teams met again in the final, this time in Venezuela. once again, Brazil came out triumphant after crushing Argentina 3–0. Argentina hosted the 2011 competition and was ousted by Uruguay in the quarterfinals by penalty gunfight. Uruguay would go on defeating Peru 2–0 in the trailer truck to reach the finals and overpower Paraguay 3–0, therefore winning the trophy on Argentinean soil for the third base time and moment in a row. This, the 43rd edition, was the first fourth dimension that neither Argentina nor Brazil reached the semifinals of a tournament they both had entered. The 2015 competition was hosted in Chile, who swapped hosting positions with Brazil in light of the latter ‘s host of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. Chile went on to win the tournament, their first base title, on home soil. In 2016, the centennial of the tournament was celebrated with the Copa América Centenario tournament hosted in the United States ; the tournament was the first to be hosted outside of South America and had an expand field of 16 teams from CONMEBOL and CONCACAF. During the tournament, media outlets reported that CONMEBOL and CONCACAF were negotiating a fusion of the Copa América with the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the latter ‘s continental tournament held every 2 years, with the United States hosting regular tournaments ; United States Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati called the report inaccurate, saying that no such discussion had taken place and that a fresh tournament would have to be established. [ 6 ] For the second time in history, Chile won the trophy .

Hosts [edit ]

Map of CONMEBOL members, by their times hosted as of 2021 In 1984, CONMEBOL adopted the policy of rotating the right to host the Copa América amongst the ten extremity confederations. The first rotation was completed following the 2007 Copa América which took place in Venezuela. A second rotation commenced in 2011, with host countries rotating in alphabetic order, starting with Argentina. [ 7 ] Chile, Mexico and the United States expressed interest in hosting the future tournament, but the CONMEBOL Executive Committee decided to continue the execution of the rotation, giving priority of the organization to each of its member associations ; each association confirms whether they will host an edition or not, having no obligation to do indeed. Argentina confirmed on 24 November 2008, via representatives of the Argentine Football Association, that it would host the 2011 Copa América. The 2015 Copa América was ascribable to be held in Brazil following the order of rotation. however, the host of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics in that nation resulted in the decisiveness being reconsidered. Although CONMEBOL President Nicolas Leoz proposed hosting the continental tournament in Mexico ( a extremity of the CONCACAF federation ) and board members Brazil and Chile discussed the possibility of exchanging the 2015 and 2019 tournaments, it was decided and confirmed by the CBF in February 2011 that the 2015 Copa América would remain in Brazil. however, in March 2012, it was announced that Chile would be hosting the 2015 Copa América, after CBF president Ricardo Teixeira resigned from his situation and the CBF agreed to swap the tournament ‘s host with Chile. The trade was made official in May 2012. The centennial edition of the tournament, Copa América Centenario, took position in June 2016, and was held in the United States. [ 8 ] The Copa América Centenario marked the first time the tournament was hosted by a non-CONMEBOL nation. Each Copa América since 2005 has had its own mascot or logo. Gardelito, the mascot for the 1987 rival, was the first Copa América mascot .

C = non-CONMEBOL host.

Format and rules [edit ]

The tournament was previously known as Campeonato Sudamericano de Futbol ( south american Championship of Football ). 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 fixed host nation, and was held in a home and away fashion. The current final examination tournament features 13 national teams competing over a calendar month in the host state. There are two phases : the group stage followed by the hard stage. In the group stage, teams compete within three groups of four teams each. Three teams are seeded, including the hosts, with the early seeded teams selected using a formula based on the FIFA World Rankings. The other teams are assigned to different “ pots ”, normally based besides on the FIFA Rankings, and teams in each toilet 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 lapp group. The stopping point round off of matches of each group is not scheduled at the lapp time unlike many tournaments around the worldly concern. The top two teams from each group gain to the hard phase equally well as the two best third-place teams. Points are used to rank the teams within a group. Beginning in 1995, three points have been awarded for a acquire, one for a pull and none for a loss ( before, winners received two points ). The rate of each team in each group is 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 are 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 Organizing Committee (i.e. at random).

The hard stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each early in one-off matches, with penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if a match is still tied after 90 minutes in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, and after extra time in the final. It begins with the quarter-finals, then semi-finals, the third-place catch ( contested by the losing semi-finalists ), and the final .

Invitees [edit ]

Owing to CONMEBOL ‘s reasonably limit number of registered national football federations, countries from early continents are normally invited to participate to make up the 12 teams necessary for the current tournament format. Since 1993, two teams from other confederations, normally from CONCACAF whose members are geographically and culturally close, have besides been invited. In all, nine nations have received invitations : Costa Rica ( 1997, 2001, 2004, 2011, 2016 ), Honduras ( 2001 ), Japan ( 1999, 2019 ), Jamaica ( 2015, 2016 ), Mexico ( 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016 ), Haiti ( 2016 ), Panama ( 2016 ), the United States ( 1993, 1995, 2007, 2016 ) and Qatar ( 2019 ). The United States was invited to every tournament between 1997 and 2007 but frequently turned down the invitation due to scheduling conflicts with Major League Soccer. however, on 30 October 2006, the US Soccer Federation accepted the invitation to participate in the 2007 tournament, ending a 12-year absence. At the 2001 Copa América, Canada was an guest, but withdrew just before the begin of the tournament due to security concerns. At the 2011 Copa América, Japan withdrew, citing difficulties with european clubs in releasing japanese players following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. [ 9 ] Spain was invited to the 2011 version, but according to the Royal Spanish Football Federation, they declined because they did not want to interrupt the spanish players ‘ holidays. [ 10 ] At the 2015 Copa América, Japan declined the invitation as it would bring burdens to their overseas players, and China had to withdraw due to the Asian sector of reservation for the 2018 World Cup being held at the same prison term. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] At the 2021 Copa América invitees Australia and Qatar on 23 February 2021, announced their withdrawal from the tournament, due to the delay of the remainder of the AFC Second Round of 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification to June 2021. [ 15 ] [ 16 ]

Invitees nations record [edit ]

QF = quarter-final, GS = group stage, 2nd/3rd/4th = final rank
Australia and Qatar were invited to the 2020 edition of the tournament but later withdrew due to scheduling conflict with the FIFA World Cup AFC qualification matches.

Trophies [edit ]

current Copa América trophy ( left ) at the Conmebol Museum and the particular edition awarded entirely for Copa América Centenario in 2016 The Copa América trophy, which is awarded to the winners of the tournament, was donated to the Association by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Ernesto Bosch, in 1910, when Argentina organized an event to commemorate the centennial of the May Revolution. That contest ( besides attended by Uruguay and Chile ) was named “ Copa del Centenario ” ( Centennial Cup ). [ 17 ] The current Copa América trophy was purchased in 1916 from “ Casa Escasany ”, a jewelry shop class in Buenos Aires, at the price of 3,000 swiss francs. [ 18 ] The Copa América trophy is a 9 kilogram ( 20 pound ) weight and 77 curium ( 30 in ) tall silver decoration, with a 3-level wooden base which contains several plaques. The plaques are engraved with every achiever of the contest, ampere well as the edition won. [ 19 ] The trophy previously had a one- and two-level base [ citation needed ], and prior to 1979 there was no base at all, [ 20 ] like the one used in 1975. In April 2016, a commemorative trophy – specifically designed for the Copa América Centenario – was introduced at the colombian Football Federation headquarters of Bogotá to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the rival. [ 21 ] The trophy was based on the original Copa América trophy ‘s supreme headquarters allied powers europe, added with the 2016 version logo. The trophy was not to have a basal. The CAC was 61 centimeter ( 24 in ) tall with a weight unit of 7.1 kg ( 16 pound ), covered by 24-carat gold. The emblem of CONMEBOL and CONCACAF were besides engraved on its body. [ 22 ] The commemorative Copa América Centenario trophy was designed by Epico Studios in the United States and manufactured by London Workshops of Thomas Lyte in England. [ 23 ] [ 24 ] The winning team will keep the trophy in perpetuity. apart from the main trophy, the “ Copa Bolivia ” ( a little trophy made in silver ) has been awarded to the runner-up of the competition since the 1997 edition. [ 25 ] The trophy is named after the country that hosted the 1997 Copa América, with a minor bolivian flag attached on one of its sides. [ 26 ]