50 Fun Facts About Copa América

Which Brazilian star was top scorer at the 1959 championship but never won the Copa América?

Pelé scored eight goals in Argentina in 1959 and Brazil went through the tournament unbeaten, yet the hosts still took the title. He was 18, a year on from winning the World Cup.

Until 1975 the Copa América was known by what name?

The South American Football Championship had been running since 1916, yet never with every member taking part. Its relaunch as the Copa América in 1975 was the first edition that all ten nations entered.

Whose extra-time goal won Argentina the 2024 Copa América final?

Lautaro Martínez came off the bench in the 97th minute and scored in the 112th, his fifth goal of the tournament. A tearful Messi, forced off injured earlier, came back out to lift the trophy.

As of 2024, which two CONMEBOL nations had never won the Copa América?

Ecuador and Venezuela are the last two of the ten still waiting. Until 2015 there were three: Chile had played since the very first tournament in 1916 before finally winning, at home, 99 years on.

The first Copa América, in July 1916, was staged by Argentina to celebrate what?

The centenary of its independence, declared in 1816, was the occasion. The party soured at the end: the deciding match was halted after five minutes by a riot in the crowd and had to be finished the next day.

Chile's Ramón Unzaga amazed crowds at the earliest Copa América tournaments with which acrobatic move, still called the 'chilena'?

The bicycle kick is still the 'chilena' to most of Latin America, after Unzaga and his teammates. Peruvians dispute the credit: they call the same move the 'chalaca', after their port of Callao.

Which Argentina striker missed three penalties in a single match at the 1999 Copa América?

Martín Palermo hit the crossbar with the first, sent the second over it and saw the third saved. Argentina lost 3-0, and the hat-trick of misses earned him a place in the Guinness book of records.

Why was the 1918 Copa América, planned for Rio de Janeiro, put off for a year?

A flu epidemic was sweeping Rio de Janeiro. Brazil staged the tournament in 1919 instead and won it for the first time, in a play-off that ran to 150 minutes.

Which coach, first appointed as a caretaker in 2018, led Argentina to the 2021 and 2024 titles?

Lionel Scaloni was 40 and had only ever been an assistant and a youth-team coach. Within six years he had won three major tournaments in a row, with the 2022 World Cup between the two Copas.

Which World Cup-winning captain won the Copa América twice as a player and again as Brazil's coach in 2007?

Dunga took a squad missing Kaká and Ronaldinho, who had both asked to be rested, and still beat Argentina 3-0 in the 2007 final.

Which debutant earned its first ever Copa América win by beating defending champions Bolivia 3-0 in 1967?

Venezuela had lost its first three matches as a newcomer before beating the holders. Bolivia's own title, four years earlier, had been won at home in the thin air of the Andes.

How was the relaunched Copa América of 1975 staged?

With no fixed venue, home and away, the 1975 edition dragged on from July to October. One semi-final finished level over its two legs and was settled by drawing lots.

Which star led world champions Argentina at home in the 1987 Copa América, where they finished only fourth?

Diego Maradona scored three goals in the group stage, yet his side lost its semi-final 1-0 to the holders and then lost the third-place match as well.

Which striker's goals carried Argentina to the 1991 Copa América, its first title in 32 years?

Gabriel Batistuta finished as top scorer with six goals. Two years later he scored both goals of the final as Argentina kept the trophy.

Which two CONCACAF nations became the Copa América's first invited guests, at the 1993 tournament in Ecuador?

Mexico and the United States were asked along to bring the field up to twelve. Mexico made the most of it, going all the way to the final at the first attempt before losing 2-1.

Which Asian nation played in the Copa América in 1999 and again in 2019?

Japan was the first team from outside the Americas to play in the tournament. Two of its three goals in 1999 came from Wagner Lopes, a striker born in Brazil, and it went home without a win.

Which European nation was invited to the 2011 Copa América but declined?

Spain was asked to step in when another guest pulled out after an earthquake at home. It turned the invitation down, and Costa Rica took the place instead.

Which striker joined Edmundo and Zé Roberto on the scoresheet in the 1997 Copa América final in La Paz?

Ronaldo broke a 1-1 deadlock eleven minutes from time, 3,600 metres up in the Andes, before Zé Roberto added a third. It was the first time Brazil had won the title away from home.

Which invited team knocked Brazil out of the 2001 Copa América in the quarter-finals?

Honduras had been invited only as the tournament began, to fill a place left by a late withdrawal, and landed on a Colombian Air Force plane hours before its first match. It finished third.

Argentina pulled out of the 2001 Copa América on the eve of kick-off, citing what?

Death threats to its players were the federation's stated reason. In the event no team was harmed, and the hosts won the title for the first time.

Whose stoppage-time equaliser took the 2004 Copa América final to the penalty shoot-out that Brazil won?

Adriano struck deep in stoppage time, minutes after Argentina had gone 2-1 up, then scored Brazil's first penalty in the shoot-out. He finished as top scorer with seven goals.

Which team reached the 2011 Copa América final without winning a single match on the way?

Paraguay drew all three group games, then came through its quarter-final and semi-final on penalties after goalless draws. The run ended with a 3-0 defeat in the final.

Which forward was both top scorer and best player as an understrength Brazil won the 2007 Copa América?

Robinho scored six goals, among them a hat-trick against Chile in the group stage, for a squad that two of the country's biggest stars had asked to sit out.

Whose penalty won the 2015 final shoot-out against Argentina and gave Chile its first Copa América?

Alexis Sánchez tried a Panenka, a soft chip down the middle, mishit it and scored anyway. Chile had been waiting since it played in the very first tournament, 99 years earlier.

Where was the 2016 Copa América Centenario held, the first staged outside South America?

The United States staged it as a one-off to mark the tournament's 100th birthday, with sixteen teams instead of the usual twelve. The tournament came back to American stadiums in 2024.

Argentina's 2016 final loss followed defeats to Chile in 2015 and which team in the 2014 World Cup final?

Germany was the first of three finals lost in three summers. After the third, Lionel Messi announced he was quitting the national team; he changed his mind within two months.

The gold-plated trophy made specially for the 2016 Copa América Centenario was handcrafted by silversmiths in which city?

London silversmiths Thomas Lyte spent 98 days on it and plated it in 24-carat gold. The winners kept it for good, while the old silver cup went on being awarded as before.

Brazil won its ninth Copa América title in the 2019 final at which stadium?

The Maracanã saw Gabriel Jesus set up the first goal, score the second and then get sent off in a 3-1 win. It was Brazil's first title in twelve years.

Which country lost its share of the 2021 Copa América after a wave of street protests?

Colombia was dropped as co-host about three weeks before kick-off. Eleven days later Argentina went too, as Covid cases surged, and the whole tournament moved to Brazil with 13 days to spare.

Whose goal beat Brazil in the 2021 Copa América final?

Ángel Di María ran on to a long pass and lofted the ball over the goalkeeper in the 22nd minute. Afterwards Lionel Messi, a winner with Argentina at last, went to console his friend Neymar.

The 2024 Copa América final, settled in extra time, was played in which city?

Miami Gardens was overwhelmed on the night: security could not cope with the crowds massed outside Hard Rock Stadium, and a match due to start at 8pm kicked off at 9.22.

After the 2024 Copa América's opening match in Atlanta, Argentina's coach complained that what had been 'changed two days ago'?

The new grass pitch had been laid over the stadium's artificial turf only days before the game. Complaints about the playing surfaces then followed the tournament from city to city.

The Copa América trophy was bought in 1916 from a jeweller's shop in which city?

Buenos Aires jeweller Casa Escasany supplied the silver cup, and Argentina's foreign ministry presented it to the new confederation. The price was quoted in Swiss francs: 3,000 of them.

Which striker finished as top scorer or joint top scorer at three Copa Américas: 2011, 2015 and 2019?

Paolo Guerrero's goals took his country to third place twice and then to the 2019 final, where he scored from the penalty spot: the first goal the hosts had conceded all tournament.

Which playmaker was named best player of the 2024 Copa América?

James Rodríguez took the award even though his side lost the final, beaten by a single goal in extra time.

Who was named best player of the 1987 Copa América?

Carlos Valderrama led his country to third place, beating the hosts and world champions 2-1 in the play-off.

Which goalkeeper won the Copa América's best goalkeeper award at both the 2021 and 2024 tournaments?

Emiliano Martínez saved three penalties in the 2021 semi-final shoot-out and then kept a clean sheet in the final. Three years later he did not concede in the final again; both were won 1-0.

As of 2024, the oldest player in Copa América history, at 41, is which goalkeeper?

Claudio Bravo broke the record in Chile's opening match of 2024 and stretched it four days later. He had captained his country to its only two titles, in 2015 and 2016.

Which team reached the semi-finals of the 2024 Copa América on its first appearance in the tournament?

Canada went out to the eventual champions in the semi-final and was seconds from third place, until a stoppage-time equaliser forced a penalty shoot-out that it lost.

Argentina's record 12-0 win at the 1942 tournament, with five goals from José Manuel Moreno, came against which team?

Ecuador was on the receiving end, and the 12-0 was still the tournament's biggest win more than eighty years later. One of Moreno's five was the 500th goal in the championship's history.

As of 2024, which team had made the most Copa América appearances and played the most matches?

Uruguay had played in 46 of the 48 tournaments. Yet it won the 1987 title in just two matches: as holders it was given a bye straight to the semi-finals.

The Copa América was already 44 years old when which other continental tournament was first played, in 1960?

The European Championship did not begin until 1960. Asia and Africa had both launched their own continental cups a few years before Europe got round to it.

Chile's 7-0 quarter-final win at the 2016 Copa América Centenario ended which team's 22-match unbeaten run?

Mexico had not lost in 22 games. Chile's Eduardo Vargas scored four of the seven goals, and Mexico's coach apologised to the fans afterwards.

The 1920 Copa América was played at a racecourse in which Chilean city?

Viña del Mar's racecourse, home of the Chilean Derby, staged every match. Brazil lost one of them 6-0, a record defeat that it did not match for 94 years.

Which striker, voted best player of the 2010 World Cup, scored twice in the 2011 Copa América final?

Diego Forlán's father Pablo won the title in 1967, in a team coached by Diego's grandfather, Juan Carlos Corazzo. Forty-four years on, the grandson completed the set.

Argentina's 1929 Copa América win avenged a defeat to Uruguay in the final of which event?

The 1928 Olympics final in Amsterdam had gone Uruguay's way. A year after this revenge the two met again in the first World Cup final, and the quarrel that followed stopped the championship for five years.

Which country won the Copa América for the first time in 1939, as hosts?

Peru had brought the tournament back to life four years earlier, after a feud between its two strongest teams had stopped it. Its reward was to become the first champion from outside the big three.

The 1941 Copa América in Chile marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of which city?

Santiago was founded by the conquistador Pedro de Valdivia. Chile asked to host for the anniversary and played in its new national stadium, only to lose the deciding match 1-0 and see Argentina take the title.

Three star forwards of Argentina's 1957 Copa América champions all left within months for clubs in which country?

Italy signed Sívori, Maschio and Angelillo, and all three later played for the Italian national team. Without them Argentina went out of the 1958 World Cup after a 6-1 defeat by Czechoslovakia.

Which striker scored the only goal of the 150-minute play-off that gave Brazil its first title in 1919?

Arthur Friedenreich scored in the 122nd minute of the longest match the tournament has seen. Still level after extra time, the two captains and the referee had agreed to play a second extra half-hour.