Copa América
South American association football tournament / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The CONMEBOL Copa América (English: America's Cup; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship[1]), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial football tournament contested among national teams from South America. It is the oldest still-running continental football competition, as well as the third 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 also been invited to compete.
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Organizing body | CONMEBOL |
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Founded | 1916; 108 years ago (1916) |
Region | South America |
Number of teams | 16 (2024) |
Qualifier for | CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions |
Related competitions | UEFA European Championship Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo |
Current champion(s) | ![]() |
Most successful team(s) | ![]() ![]() (15 titles each) |
Website | copaamerica.com |
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Eight of the ten CONMEBOL national teams have won the tournament at least once in its 47 stagings since the event's inauguration in 1916, with Ecuador and Venezuela the only teams yet to win. Argentina and Uruguay have the most championships in the tournament's history, with 15 cups each. The country that hosted the tournament the most times (nine editions) is Argentina, including the inaugural edition in 1916. The United States is the only non-CONMEBOL country that hosted the event, having done so in both 2016 and 2024. On three occasions (in 1975, 1979, and 1983), the tournament was held in multiple South American countries.
Since 1993, the tournament has generally featured 12 teams — all 10 CONMEBOL teams and two additional teams from other confederations. Mexico participated in every tournament between 1993 and 2016, with one additional team drawn from CONCACAF, except for 1999, when AFC team Japan filled out the 12-team roster, and 2019, which featured Japan and Qatar. The 2016 version of the event, 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.