Copa América Trivia
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50 free Copa América trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Copa América trivia for football fans, South American obsessives and anyone who stayed up for the 2024 final at Hard Rock Stadium. The quiz starts in 1916, when Argentina marked its centenary of independence with a four-team tournament that Uruguay won, CONMEBOL was founded days later on 9 July, and the trophy was bought from a Buenos Aires jeweller for 3,000 Swiss francs. From there it follows the messy history: the 1918 flu cancellation, Argentina's three straight titles in the 1940s, Brazil sending a state side in 1959, the eight-year gap before the 1975 relaunch, the rotation of hosts, and the invitation of Mexico and the United States in 1993. Later rounds cover Honduras knocking out Brazil, Colombia's unbeaten 2001, Uruguay's 2011 title in Argentina, Chile beating Argentina on penalties two years running, the Centenario in the USA, the pandemic-hit 2021 tournament moved to Brazil at 13 days' notice, Argentina's record 16th title, and the individual records held by Messi, Zizinho, Claudio Bravo and Luis Suárez. Questions run from easy to expert and every answer was checked against a reference page and carries its source. See also our World Cup, Argentina and Brazil football quizzes.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Brazilian star was top scorer at the 1959 championship but never won the Copa América?
Pelé
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.
Q 02Until 1975 the Copa América was known by what name?
the South American Football Championship
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.
Q 03Whose extra-time goal won Argentina the 2024 Copa América final?
Lautaro Martínez
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.
Q 04As of 2024, which two CONMEBOL nations had never won the Copa América?
Ecuador and Venezuela
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.
Q 05The first Copa América, in July 1916, was staged by Argentina to celebrate what?
the centenary of its independence
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.
Q 06Chile's Ramón Unzaga amazed crowds at the earliest Copa América tournaments with which acrobatic move, still called the 'chilena'?
The bicycle kick
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.
Q 07Which Argentina striker missed three penalties in a single match at the 1999 Copa América?
Martín Palermo
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.
Q 08Why was the 1918 Copa América, planned for Rio de Janeiro, put off for a year?
A flu epidemic
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.
Q 09Which coach, first appointed as a caretaker in 2018, led Argentina to the 2021 and 2024 titles?
Lionel Scaloni
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.
Q 10Which World Cup-winning captain won the Copa América twice as a player and again as Brazil's coach in 2007?
Dunga
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.
Q 11Which debutant earned its first ever Copa América win by beating defending champions Bolivia 3-0 in 1967?
Venezuela
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.
Q 12How was the relaunched Copa América of 1975 staged?
with no fixed venue, home and away
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.
Q 13Which star led world champions Argentina at home in the 1987 Copa América, where they finished only fourth?
Diego Maradona
Q 21Whose stoppage-time equaliser took the 2004 Copa América final to the penalty shoot-out that Brazil won?
Adriano
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.
Q 22Which team reached the 2011 Copa América final without winning a single match on the way?
Paraguay
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.
Q 23Which forward was both top scorer and best player as an understrength Brazil won the 2007 Copa América?
Robinho
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.
Q 14Which striker's goals carried Argentina to the 1991 Copa América, its first title in 32 years?
Gabriel Batistuta
Gabriel Batistuta finished as top scorer with six goals. Two years later he scored both goals of the final as Argentina kept the trophy.
Q 15Which two CONCACAF nations became the Copa América's first invited guests, at the 1993 tournament in Ecuador?
Mexico and the United States
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.
Q 16Which Asian nation played in the Copa América in 1999 and again in 2019?
Japan
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.
Q 17Which European nation was invited to the 2011 Copa América but declined?
Spain
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.
Q 18Which striker joined Edmundo and Zé Roberto on the scoresheet in the 1997 Copa América final in La Paz?
Ronaldo
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.
Q 19Which invited team knocked Brazil out of the 2001 Copa América in the quarter-finals?
Honduras
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.
Q 20Argentina pulled out of the 2001 Copa América on the eve of kick-off, citing what?
Death threats
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.
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.
Q 24Whose penalty won the 2015 final shoot-out against Argentina and gave Chile its first Copa América?
Alexis Sánchez
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.
Q 25Where was the 2016 Copa América Centenario held, the first staged outside South America?
the United States
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.
Q 26Argentina's 2016 final loss followed defeats to Chile in 2015 and which team in the 2014 World Cup final?
Germany
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.
Q 27The gold-plated trophy made specially for the 2016 Copa América Centenario was handcrafted by silversmiths in which city?
London
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.
Q 28Brazil won its ninth Copa América title in the 2019 final at which stadium?
The Maracanã
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.
Q 29Which country lost its share of the 2021 Copa América after a wave of street protests?
Colombia
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.
Q 30Whose goal beat Brazil in the 2021 Copa América final?
Ángel Di María
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.