The Copa America is the world’s oldest international football tournament currently running. It served as the precursor to both the World Cup and European Championships, which drew inspiration from the tournament.
Although beset with problems over its 100+ years in existence it has remained a key part of South American football. The tournament has been relatively well organised, albeit still with some problems, since the mid-1980s, taking on a more familiar look in the 1990s and onwards.
Going forward into 2024 and beyond, a joint-venture with North and Central America organisation CONCACAF means that the tournament could be bigger, and better, than ever.
Let’s now take a closer look at this popular international soccer tournament.
The table below shows the tournament number, the year the tournament was held, the hosts, number of teams competing, plus the teams that finished as winners, runners up, third and fourth in each tournament (where possible).
| Tourn No | Year Held | Hosts | No of Teams | Winner | Runners Up | 3rd Place | 4th Place |
| 1 | 1916 | Argentina | 4 | Uruguay | Argentina | Brazil | Chile |
| 2 | 1917 | Uruguay | 4 | Uruguay | Argentina | Brazil | Chile |
| 3 | 1919 | Brazil | 4 | Brazil | Uruguay | Argentina | Chile |
| 4 | 1920 | Chile | 4 | Uruguay | Argentina | Brazil | Chile |
| 5 | 1921 | Argentina | 4 | Argentina | Brazil | Uruguay | Paraguay |
| 6 | 1922 | Brazil | 5 | Brazil | Paraguay | Uruguay | Argentina |
| 7 | 1923 | Uruguay | 4 | Uruguay | Argentina | Paraguay | Brazil |
| 8 | 1924 | Uruguay | 4 | Uruguay | Argentina | Paraguay | Chile |
| 9 | 1925 | Argentina | 3 | Argentina | Brazil | Paraguay | N/A |
| 10 | 1926 | Chile | 5 | Uruguay | Argentina | Chile | Paraguay |
| 11 | 1927 | Peru | 4 | Argentina | Uruguay | Peru | Bolivia |
| 12 | 1929 | Argentina | 4 | Argentina | Paraguay | Uruguay | Peru |
| 13 | 1935 | Peru | 4 | Uruguay | Argentina | Peru | Chile |
| 14 | 1937 | Argentina | 6 | Argentina | Brazil | Uruguay | Paraguay |
| 15 | 1939 | Peru | 5 | Peru | Uruguay | Paraguay | Chile |
| 16 | 1941 | Chile | 5 | Argentina | Uruguay | Chile | Peru |
| 17 | 1942 | Uruguay | 7 | Uruguay | Argentina | Brazil | Paraguay |
| 18 | 1945 | Chile | 7 | Argentina | Brazil | Chile | Uruguay |
| 19 | 1946 | Argentina | 6 | Argentina | Brazil | Paraguay | Uruguay |
| 20 | 1947 | Ecuador | 8 | Argentina | Paraguay | Uruguay | Chile |
| 21 | 1949 | Brazil | 8 | Brazil | Paraguay | Peru | Bolivia |
| 22 | 1953 | Peru | 7 | Paraguay | Brazil | Uruguay | Chile |
| 23 | 1955 | Chile | 6 | Argentina | Chile | Peru | Uruguay |
| 24 | 1956 | Uruguay | 6 | Uruguay | Chile | Argentina | Brazil |
| 25 | 1957 | Peru | 7 | Argentina | Brazil | Uruguay | Peru |
| 26 | 1959 | Argentina | 7 | Argentina | Brazil | Paraguay | Peru |
| 27 | 1959 | Ecuador | 5 | Uruguay | Argentina | Brazil | Ecuador |
| 28 | 1963 | Bolivia | 7 | Bolivia | Paraguay | Argentina | Brazil |
| 29 | 1967 | Uruguay | 6 | Uruguay | Argentina | Chile | Paraguay |
| 30 | 1975 | N/A* | 10 | Peru | Colombia | Brazil | Uruguay |
| 31 | 1979 | N/A* | 10 | Paraguay | Chile | Brazil | Peru |
| 32 | 1983 | N/A* | 10 | Uruguay | Brazil | Paraguay | Peru |
| 33 | 1987 | Argentina | 10 | Uruguay | Chile | Colombia | Argentina |
| 34 | 1989 | Brazil | 10 | Brazil | Uruguay | Argentina | Paraguay |
| 35 | 1991 | Chile | 10 | Argentina | Brazil | Chile | Colombia |
| 36 | 1993 | Ecuador | 12 | Argentina | Mexico | Colombia | Ecuador |
| 37 | 1995 | Uruguay | 12 | Uruguay | Brazil | Colombia | USA |
| 38 | 1997 | Bolivia | 12 | Brazil | Bolivia | Mexico | Peru |
| 39 | 1999 | Paraguay | 12 | Brazil | Uruguay | Mexico | Chile |
| 40 | 2001 | Colombia | 12 | Colombia | Mexico | Honduras | Uruguay |
| 41 | 2004 | Peru | 12 | Brazil | Argentina | Uruguay | Colombia |
| 42 | 2007 | Venezuela | 12 | Brazil | Argentina | Mexico | Uruguay |
| 43 | 2011 | Argentina | 12 | Uruguay | Paraguay | Peru | Venezuela |
| 44 | 2015 | Chile | 12 | Chile | Argentina | Peru | Paraguay |
| 45 | 2016 | U.S.A | 16 | Chile | Argentina | Colombia | USA |
| 46 | 2019 | Brazil | 12 | Brazil | Peru | Argentina | Chile |
| 47 | 2021 | Brazil | 10 | Argentina | Brazil | Colombia | Peru |
| 48 | 2024 | U.S.A | 16 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Eight teams have won the Copa America, all from CONMEBOL. The only two CONMEBOL nations not to win it are Ecuador and Venezuela.
Argentina and Uruguay hold the most wins with 15 each, with Brazil on nine. The numbers then fall away sharply for the other teams in the list below.
| Rank | Team Name | Winners | Runner-Up |
| 1 | Argentina | 15 | 14 |
| 2 | Uruguay | 15 | 6 |
| 3 | Brazil | 9 | 12 |
| 4 | Paraguay | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | Chile | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | Peru | 2 | 1 |
| 7= | Bolivia | 1 | 1 |
| 7= | Colombia | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Mexico | 0 | 2 |
Alongside Ecuador and Venezuela, the following non-CONMEBOL teams have also competed in the Copa America without finishing as winners or runner up: Honduras, United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Japan and Qatar.
Do you want to have a bet on the Copa America this year? Bet365 Sport offers extensive betting on the tournament which features:
More markets become available as the calendar ambles towards the start of the next tournament. So it is well worth checking out what bet365 Sport has to offer on the Copa America, especially in the years the tournament is scheduled to take place.
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With the European Championships and Copa America set to be played at the same time, those four-yearly summers promise to be massive. Especially if you are a fan of the beautiful game in both Europe and South America!
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