United States at the Copa América

The Copa América is South America's major tournament in senior men's soccer and determines the continental champion. Until 1967, the tournament was known as South American Championship. It is the oldest continental championship in the world.[1]

U.S. fans celebrating before the quarterfinal of the Copa América Centenario against Ecuador in Seattle.

The United States are not members of the South American soccer confederation CONMEBOL, but because CONMEBOL only has ten member associations, guest nations have regularly been invited since 1993. With four participations (and an upcoming fifth one), the U.S. are the second-most regular guest behind Mexico (ten participations).

In 2016, the U.S. were hosts of the Copa América Centenario, which celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the tournament with a larger competition, co-organized by CONCACAF and CONMEBOL. This makes them the only non-South American country to ever host a Copa match. Before, they have been invited guests in 1993, 1995 and 2007. In 2024, the United States will again host the tournament, although for the first time they did not receive an automatic invitation and had to qualify through the CONCACAF Nations League.

Record at the Copa América edit

 
Kick-off for the semifinal against Argentina at the NRG Stadium in Houston during the United States' home tournament in 2016.
Copa América record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA
19161991 Not invited
  1993 Group stage 12th 3 0 1 2 3 6
  1995 Fourth place 4th 6 2 1 3 6 7
19972004 Not invited
  2007 Group stage 12th 3 0 0 3 2 8
20112015 Not invited
  2016 Fourth place 4th 6 3 0 3 7 8
20192021 Not invited
  2024 Qualified
Total Invitation 0 titles 18 5 2 11 18 29

* Draws include matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Match overview edit

Tournament Round Opponent Score Venue
  1993 Group stage   Uruguay 0–1 Ambato
  Ecuador 0–2 Quito
  Venezuela 3–3
  1995 Group stage   Chile 2–1 Paysandú
  Bolivia 0–1
  Argentina 3–0
Quarterfinals   Mexico 0–0
(4–1 p)
Semifinals   Brazil 0–1 Maldonado
Third place match   Colombia 1–4
  2007 Group stage   Argentina 1–4 Maracaibo
  Paraguay 1–3 Barinas
  Colombia 0–1 Barquisimeto
  2016 Group stage   Colombia 0–2 Santa Clara
  Costa Rica 4–0 Chicago
  Paraguay 1–0 Philadelphia
Quarterfinals   Ecuador 2–1 Seattle
Semifinals   Argentina 0–4 Houston
Third place match   Colombia 0–1 Glendale

Record players edit

 
Alexi Lalas is the only American to score in two separate Copa Américas, and one of three players to appear in all nine matches in 1993 and 1995.
Rank Player Matches Tournaments
1 Cobi Jones 9 1993 and 1995
Alexi Lalas 9 1993 and 1995
Tab Ramos 9 1993 and 1995
4 Paul Caligiuri 8 1993 and 1995
5 Brad Friedel 6 1993 and 1995
Mike Burns 6 1995
Earnie Stewart 6 1995
Kyle Beckerman 6 2007 and 2016
Brad Guzan 6 2007 and 2016
Michael Bradley 6 2016
Geoff Cameron 6 2016
Clint Dempsey 6 2016
Gyasi Zardes 6 2016

Top goalscorers edit

Eric Wynalda and Clint Dempsey scored three goals each at the 1995 and 2016 tournaments respectively.
Rank Player Goals Tournaments
1 Eric Wynalda 3 1995
Clint Dempsey 3 2016
3 Alexi Lalas 2 1993 (1) and 1995 (1)
4 10 players 1

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Copa América". Encyclopædia Britannica. December 11, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2019.

External links edit