Copa América trophy record: which teams have won it and how many titles each?

It’s a tournament that has been going - with a few interruptions - for over a century and fans are keen to know who their teams will be facing when the comPetition unfolds in the United States next summer. The Copa América began on 2 July 1916, and served as a commemoration of Argentina’s centennial independence from Spain. It wasn’t until the 30th edition in 1975 that the comPetition officially adopted the name Copa América, coinciding with rule modifications.

With the draw for the 2024 edition just days away, we reflect on the countries that have clinched the most titles.

Which countries have most Copa América titles?

The Copa América has been dominated by three teams over the last 100 years, namely Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil. Given their status as the oldest football associations in the continent, it is maybe logical to expect them to have accumulated the greatest number of titles. Here is the list of all the teams to have won it at least once.

Who is the current Copa América holder?

It was a long wait but finally, in 2021, Argentina, with Lionel Messi pulling the strings, clinched their 15th title in Brazil. Messi finished the tournament as joint to scorer (with four) along with Colombia’s Luis Díaz. That, almost three decades after their last, put the Albiceleste even with Uruguay at the top of the table of winners, and Lionel Scaloni will hope to go ahead by retaining the trophy in the U.S. Adding that to the 2022 World Cup would be some record.

Why is Copa América 2024 being held in the USA?

As I’ve already stated, next summer, the United States will host the 2024 Copa América. The nation is doing so for the second time, with the 2016 version being the only other to be held outside of South America. There have been many ‘invited’ teams to take part in the comPetition but this edition sees it expanded due to new strategic agreement between CONCACAF and CONMEBOL. This will have six North American, Caribbean and Central American nations join the comPetition alongside the ten regular teams from South American countries. This is a repeat of what we saw at that 2016 centenary Copa América.

Interestingly, in that version the US were automatically qualified as hosts, but this time around there was no guaranteed place. The stars and stripes did qualify though.

When is the 2024 Copa América draw?

The unveiling of the 2024 Copa América matchups will unfold in Miami on Thursday 7 December at the James L. Knight Center. The tournament’s structure follows a clear path, as the 16 teams will be allocated into four groups of four, setting the stage for the top two teams from each group to advance to the knockout phase, commencing with the quarter-finals.

Here at AS USA we’ll be bringing you the full draw live on Thursday 7 December. The draw is expected to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET and we’ll be building up to the pot plucking about an hour before this.

When is the 2024 Copa América held?

The tournament is due to begin on 20 June 2024 and will run through to the final on 14 July.