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The CONMEBOL Copa América

The CONMEBOL Copa América is a continental football tournament, held under the CONMEBOL confederation authority for the countries of South America. It’s the oldest international tournament on the planet, which is 14 years older than the World Cup and 44 years older than its European counterpart. The 1st competition of this type was organized in 1910, but it wasn’t recognized officially.

The 1st acknowledged tournament was held in 1916. Four countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile) participated in it. The most award-winning team is Uruguay (15 titles). All countries take turns in hosting the CONMEBOL Copa América, however, there are exceptions in some cases (for example, the 2015 competition had to take place in Brazil, but was held in Chile at the request of the Brazilian Football Confederation).

The CONMEBOL Copa América history

Football in South America started to develop at the beginning of the 20th century, and already in 1910 national teams of four countries (Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Chile) held a tournament in honour of the the May Revolution centenary, which is unofficially considered to be the CONMEBOL Copa América debut. Six years later rivals gathered on the occasion of the Argentina Independence Day again, however, everything was formal this time, and the South American Football Confederation was founded in the course of the competition.

The 1st champion of South America became Uruguay, while taking the first place in the Copa América 1916 group stage. The Uruguayans won the first six titles out of ten, then the time came for the Argentines to dominate, they got 11 cups in the period from 1920 to 1950. In the second half of the 20th century, Brazilians showed themselves in the best light, having won 5 titles from 1980 to 1995. Other teams won this tournament rarely, and the constituent country Chile remains the only one, which has never obtained the golden medals set.
Regulations amendments history

For a long time, the CONMEBOL Copa América had only a group stage: teams were included into one group and played one match each. An additional match was assigned in case of an equal score of two teams. These rules had been valid till 1975, and additional matches were arranged five times: in 1919, 1922, 1937, 1949 and 1953. It is noteworthy, that all additional meetings were held with the participation of the Brazilian national team and four times they ended with its victory.
Since 1975 10 teams have been taking part in the tournament. Nine of them started from the group stage, and the previous competition winner entered the fight at the quarterfinal phase. Concurrently, matches were played in various countries, and the final consisted of two games. If each finalist won once (no matter what the score was) an additional match was assigned. If it ended in a draw, the team, overcoming its rival with a greater score, was recognized as the champion.

Later on the regulations changed frequently, however, no significant modifications occurred. Thus, in 1989 and 1991 an additional group stage with the involvement of the four strongest teams was organized. Then a third place play-off was introduced, and since 1993 up to now the final takes one match. That year two teams from the neighbouring CONCACAF confederation were invited начали, so the groups started to include 4 teams each.

The trophy

The tournament winner receives the Copa América trophy, being presented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina during the first Copa América competition in 1916. This cup has a wooden base and silver sides with the earlier winners’ names engraved. The finalist of the tournament also gets a trophy – the Bolivian Cup. The CONMEBOL Copa América winner is entitled to represent South America at the FIFA Confederations Cup, which is traditionally held a year before the World Cup.

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