Competitions

Copa America

Also Known As South American Championship (Campeonato Sudamericano de Football), the tournament's name from its 1916 founding until the 1975 rebrand

Citation Formats

General Reference

Sport and Games Atlas. "Copa America." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://sport.interactiveatlas.org/competitions/copa-america.

APA Style

Sport and Games Atlas. (n.d.). Copa America. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://sport.interactiveatlas.org/competitions/copa-america

BibTeX

@misc{sportandgamesatlas-copa-america,
  author = {Sport and Games Atlas},
  title = {Copa America},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://sport.interactiveatlas.org/competitions/copa-america},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Copa America is CONMEBOL's international men's football championship for national teams, the oldest continental football competition still contested. It began in 1916 in Argentina as the South American Championship (Campeonato Sudamericano de Football), a four-team round-robin won by Uruguay, and was renamed Copa America in 1975 as the format shifted from round-robin to group stage and knockout rounds. Long an irregular, South-America-only event, the tournament has more recently settled into roughly a four-year cycle and repeatedly invited guest nations from outside CONMEBOL's ten members, including CONCACAF sides, widening it well beyond its original regional scope.

Facts

Founding Year

1916 1

Founding Date

1916-07-02 1

Frequency

Historically irregular; recent editions have settled toward roughly a four-year cycle 1

Host History

Organized by CONMEBOL since the 1916 founding in Argentina; renamed from South American Championship to Copa America in 1975; recent editions have expanded the field to 12-16 teams with guest nations invited from outside South America, including CONCACAF sides. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections