This year’s Copa America will be the 47th edition of the Copa America, organized by The South American football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament will be taking place in Colombia and Argentina from the 13th of June to the 10th of July. This will be the first time since 1983 that 2 or more countries would be hosting this tournament.
Here are the countries who have won The Copa America the most number of times-
BOLIVIA – 1
Bolivia have won the Copa America trophy only once in their history and it came on their home soil and it turned out to be one of the competition’s most memorable tournaments, with a whopping 91 goals scored for an average of just over four per game.
For a nation who have only qualified for only three World Cups in their history, their last in 1994 and none of the three seeing them progress past the group stages, it remains their greatest footballing achievement.
When the tournament was hosted in Bolivia again in 1997, they came close to winning the Copa America , only to be defeated by probably the bes international team of that era, Brazil. Bolivia have generally struggled at The Copa America’s, with their first and second-placed finishes followed by two runs to the quarter-finals, but nothing else.
COLOMBIA – 1
Despite their current squad being one of the best in South America in terms of talent with the likes of Davinson Sanchez, Radamel Falcao ,James Rodriguez and Yerry Mina- Colombia’s recent Copa America record is rather inconsistent. Since winning their only title in the year 2001, they have only managed finished third and fourth, twice crashing out of the competition in the quarter-finals and couldn’t even escape the group stages in 2007.
Their current crop of players are arguably more talented than the side who actually ended up winning the competition in 2001. Inter legend Ivan Cordoba was the only star player in a 23-man squad that had only 6 players playing top flight football in Europe.
PERU – 2
It’s been 46 years since Peru last won the Copa America, with Hugo Sotil and Teofilo Cubillas being the key players in their very first triumph since they won the title on home soil in 1939, under the charge of English Coach Jack Greenwell.
Peru are enjoying something of a revival in past five years, however. In the year 2018, they qualified for their first World Cup finals since the year 1982, and they have reached at least the quarter-finals in each of the last eight Copa America tournaments, which is quite a good run followed by a finals in the 2019 version of the competition against Brazil.
PARAGUAY – 2
Its been over 40 years since Paraguay last lifted the Copa America trophy, with a squad containing the likes of Romerito, who is Paraguay’s greatest ever footballer, Roberto Cabanas, and Roberto Fernandez they really set a benchmark for any other Paraguay team in the future.
Their one other title in the competition came in the year 1953. Former Juventus manager Heriberto Herrera, was the star player for the side that upset Brazil with a 3-2 victory in the final.
CHILE – 2
After finishing second in the competition on four different occasions, Chile finally claimed the prestigious Copa America title in the best way possible by winning the trophy in Chile itself in the year 2015. Chile then retained their title 12 months later at the Copa America Centenario – beating Argentina on penalties after a goalless game. This game is remembered for Messi retiring after the game.
The in-form Alexis Sanchez was key to both successes, who won the Golden Ball Award in 2016. Alongside him were the outstanding performances of Claudio Bravo, Gary Medel and Arturo Vidal, who were following an impressive display at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
BRAZIL – 9
Despite being the best performing team in the long history of the World Cup, Brazil are only third best team in the history of Copa America – and they are really behind teams that are ahead of them. It’s really very surprising provided they have produced some of football’s greatest ever players, with footballing legend Pele himself never ever winning the trophy.
Brazil have looked ready to dominate the competition for years to come when they won the title four of the five times between 1997 and 2007, with Brazilians winning the Golden Boot in three of those wins. The won the latest edition of the competition in 2019, beating Peru with the Golden Ball being awarded to Dani Alves.
ARGENTINA – 14
Despite producing two of the greatest legends to ever grace the game of football -Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, the majority of Argentina’s 14 Copa America titles came before the two of them even started playing. Only twice have they won the Copa America since, and neither of those triumphs included either of Messi or Maradona.
Gabriel Batistuta and Diego Simeone were the key players in their two successes in the 1990s. Diego Simeone, now the coach of Atletico Madrid also bagged a brace in their 2-1 win over Mexico in the final just two years later, which was the last time Argentina ever lifted the trophy.
URUGUAY – 15
Uruguay are the smallest country to have ever won The FIFA World Cup. Uruguay is also the smallest country to have ever won The Copa America, making their status as the most successful team in the history of this prestigious tournament even more remarkable.
More than half of their titles came in the beginning of the 20th century, with two of these titles being between their World Cup successes of 1930 and 1950. Their arguably most talented generation – which includes the likes of players such as Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani – have only been able to lift the trophy once though, accounting for their only title in last eight editions.
