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Copa America is one of the oldest football tournaments in the world and also one of the most fiercely contested ones. The competition features the might of the South American flair and always promises to be an action-packed entertainer. The first Copa America was held in 1916 under a different name and over the years the South American teams have battled each other under various banners. The tournament to be held in Chile this month is the 44th edition.
Since the competition has been going on for nearly a century, there have been numerous records set across various categories. Some of these records are so huge that it is unlikely that they will be broken in the near future. They may never even be surpassed. Here are five such records in the Copa America.
1) Most Copa America appearances: Uruguay – 41
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Although this year’s tournament is the 44th edition, no country has played in all of the previous editions. Uruguay come closest with 41 appearances out of the 43 previous tournaments.
The reason why many countries haven’t participated in the previous tournaments are varied. In some cases, it was due to the security concerns in the host nation. For example; in 2001, Argentina withdrew from the event due to security concerns in Colombia. In the early days, it was because some of the nations were not affiliated to the CONMEBOL.
Though Argentina have participated in the just two tournaments less than Uruguay, it will be a long time before they catch up with Uruguay or beat them because the Copa America doesn’t have a qualification stage and, therefore, all South American teams are participants by default unless they withdraw, which is a rare occurrence these days.
| RANK | COUNTRY | APPEARANCES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uruguay | 41 |
| 2 | Argentina | 39 |
| 3 | Chile | 36 |
| 4 | Paraguay | 34 |
| 5 | Brazil | 33 |
| 6 | Peru | 29 |
| 7 | Ecuador | 25 |
| 8 | Bolivia | 24 |
| 9 | Colombia | 19 |
| 10 | Venezuela | 15 |
2) Overall goals scored: Argentina – 422
Even though Uruguay have played in the most number of tournaments and won the most titles, the Argentines edge their rivals when it comes to overall performance. La Albiceleste hold the record for the highest average of goals scored per match with 2.44 and an overall goals tally of 422!
Surprisingly, it isn’t Uruguay who are second when it comes to overall goals scored as the Brazilians edge them out narrowly with three goals more in significantly fewer number of games, but Argentina still hold a very superior lead over them both.
The barrier between the top 3 and Chile in fourth place is also quite huge, but Chile and the teams below them have played fewer games in comparison to the big three.
| RANK | COUNTRY | GOALS SCORED |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | 422 |
| 2 | Brazil | 387 |
| 3 | Uruguay | 384 |
| 4 | Chile | 247 |
| 5 | Paraguay | 241 |
3) Biggest margin of victory: Argentina 12-0 Ecuador
There have been many one-sided games in Copa America, but none of them comes close to what Argentina did to Ecuador in 1942. Back in those days the competition featured seven teams. Each team played the others once and at the end of the competition the team with the maximum points were crowned champions.
Ecuador played their first game of the tournament against Uruguay and were thrashed 7-0. Little did they know that their second outing would leave an everlasting scar as they lost to the Argentines 12-0!
Enrique Garcia opened the scoring early on in the second minute before Jose Manuel Moreno scored a hat-trick in the space of 10 minutes. Aldolfo Pedernera scored the fifth of the game in the 25th minute following which Moreno scored again to make it 6-0 at half time. In the second half, Herminio Masantonio scored four goals with 20 minutes left to play and then Angel Perucca scored late in the game before Moreno scored his fifth and Argentina’s 12th of the day.
Ecuador finished bottom of the table after losing all six of their games - with just four goals scored and 31 conceded.
4) Most consecutive titles: Argentina – 3
Argentina set this record way back in 1947 when they made it a hat-trick of titles following their previous triumphs in 1945 and 1946. Before 1947, the Argentines and the Uruguayans had won back-to-back titles on multiple occasions, but the former went one step further in the post-World War II years.
After they set the record, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have all come close with two titles on the trot, but they have all falledn short of the record, with the most recent one coming in 2011 when Brazil failed to make it three consecutive titles following their wins in 2004 and 2007.
The reason why this record is difficult to break is that the tournament is now held after a gap of few years, therefore the core of the winning team from one tournament is bound to change by the time they play in the next one and there are chances that the side could be relatively weaker than the previous ones.
But when Argentina achieved the feat in 1947, the tournament was held in successive years and the team was largely unaltered. Interestingly, Argentina didn’t participate in the tournament in the next two editions after winning it in 1947.
5) Most goals in Copa America history: Norberto Mendez & Zizinho – 17
The record for the most goals scored by an individual in the tournament is shared by two players from rival camps. Norberto Mendez of Argentina and Zizinho of Brazil hold the record with 17 goals to their name in the tournament. Mendez’s goals helped Argentina to a hat-trick of titles between 1945 and 1947 while Zizinho is a player who served as an inspiration to Pele.
Teodoro Fernandez of Peru and Severino Varela of Uruguay are second behind Mendez and Zizinho with 15 goals to their name. In the list of the top 9 goal scorers in the tournament, there is no active footballer and the last player in the list to have hung up his boots is Gabriel Batistuta in 2002. Along with Batistuta, Jairzinho is the only player in the list who is still alive.
It is safe to say that it looks unlikely that any active player will break the record unless the likes of Lionel Messi or Neymar decide to do something spectacular.
| RANK | PLAYER | COUNTRY | GOALS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norberto Mendez | Argentina | 17 |
| Zizinho | Brazil | 17 | |
| 3 | Teodoro Fernandez | Peru | 15 |
| Severino Varela | Uruguay | 15 | |
| 5 | Ademir | Brazil | 13 |
| Gabriel Batistuta | Argentina | 13 | |
| Jairzinho | Brazil | 13 | |
| Jose Manuel Moreno | Argentina | 13 | |
| Hector Scarone | Uruguay | 13 |
