Summary

The CONMEBOL Copa América (literally America Cup), known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol in Spanish and Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol in Portuguese), is the top men's 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. The competition determines the champions of South America. Since the 1990s, teams from North America and Asia have also been invited to compete.

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. Mexico's two runner-up finishes are the highest for a non-CONMEBOL side.

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 only Ecuador and Venezuela yet to win. Ecuador and Venezuela are the only teams still 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 2016, and will do so again in 2024. On three occasions (in 1975, 1979, and 1983), the tournament was held in multiple South American countries.

▤ Read more →