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Brazil at the Copa América

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The teams walking out of the tunnel for the 2007 semi-final between Brazil and Uruguay in Maracaibo.
The squad that won Brazil's first international title: the 1919 South American Championship. The final play-off against Uruguay finished 0–0 after regulation, before star player Arthur Friedenreich (kneeling, middle), scored the decisive winning goal in extra time.
Ronaldo was named player of the tournament in 1997 and its top scorer in 1999. He scored in the finals of both editions.

The Copa América is South America's major tournament in senior men's football and determines the continental champion. Until 1967, the tournament was known as South American Championship. It is the oldest continental championship in the world with its first edition held in 1916.

Brazil have won the tournament nine times, which makes them the third-most successful team in tournament history behind Argentina (16) and Uruguay (15). Brazil withdrew from the tournament for almost ten years between 1926 and 1935.

Brazil were particularly successful from 1997 to 2007, winning four out of five Copas during that time. Zizinho, who competed in the 1940s and 1950s, is the player with the joint-most goals (17) in tournament history.

Pelé, the "Player of the Century", never won the continental title and only competed in one South American Championship in 1959. However, he did present his impressive scoring abilities with eight goals in six matches, becoming that edition's top scorer and most valuable player.

Overall record

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South American Championship / Copa América record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad
Argentina 1916 Third place 3rd 3 0 2 1 3 4 Squad
Uruguay 1917 Third place 3rd 3 1 0 2 7 8 Squad
Brazil 1919 Champions 1st 4 3 1 0 12 3 Squad
Chile 1920 Third place 3rd 3 1 0 2 1 8 Squad
Argentina 1921 Runners-up 2nd 3 1 0 2 4 3 Squad
Brazil 1922 Champions 1st 5 2 3 0 7 2 Squad
Uruguay 1923 Fourth place 4th 3 0 0 3 2 5 Squad
Uruguay 1924 Withdrew
Argentina 1925 Runners-up 2nd 4 2 1 1 11 9 Squad
Chile 1926 Withdrew
Peru 1927
Argentina 1929
Peru 1935
Argentina 1937 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 0 2 17 11 Squad
Peru 1939 Withdrew
Chile 1941
Uruguay 1942 Third place 3rd 6 3 1 2 15 7 Squad
Chile 1945 Runners-up 2nd 6 5 0 1 19 5 Squad
Argentina 1946 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 1 1 13 7 Squad
Ecuador 1947 Withdrew
Brazil 1949 Champions 1st 8 7 0 1 46 7 Squad
Peru 1953 Runners-up 2nd 7 4 0 3 17 9 Squad
Chile 1955 Withdrew
Uruguay 1956 Fourth place 4th 5 2 2 1 4 5 Squad
Peru 1957 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 0 2 23 9 Squad
Argentina 1959 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 2 0 17 7 Squad
Ecuador 1959 Third place 3rd 4 2 0 2 7 10 Squad
Bolivia 1963 Fourth place 4th 6 2 1 3 12 13 Squad
Uruguay 1967 Withdrew
1975 Third place 3rd 6 5 0 1 16 4 Squad
1979 Third place 3rd 6 2 2 2 10 9 Squad
1983 Runners-up 2nd 8 2 4 2 8 5 Squad
Argentina 1987 Group stage 5th 2 1 0 1 5 4 Squad
Brazil 1989 Champions 1st 7 5 2 0 11 1 Squad
Chile 1991 Runners-up 2nd 7 4 1 2 12 8 Squad
Ecuador 1993 Quarter-finals 5th 4 1 2 1 6 4 Squad
Uruguay 1995 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 2 0 10 3 Squad
Bolivia 1997 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 22 3 Squad
Paraguay 1999 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 17 2 Squad
Colombia 2001 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 0 2 5 4 Squad
Peru 2004 Champions 1st 6 3 2 1 13 6 Squad
Venezuela 2007 Champions 1st 6 4 1 1 15 5 Squad
Argentina 2011 Quarter-finals 8th 4 1 3 0 6 4 Squad
Chile 2015 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 5 4 Squad
United States 2016 Group stage 9th 3 1 1 1 7 2 Squad
Brazil 2019 Champions 1st 6 4 2 0 13 1 Squad
Brazil 2021 Runners-up 2nd 7 5 1 1 12 3 Squad
United States 2024 Quarter-finals 6th 4 1 3 0 5 2 Squad
Total 9 Titles 38/48 195 109 41 45 435 206

Decisive matches and finals

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In the era of the South American Championship, Round Robins were more commonly played than knock-out tournaments. Listed are the decisive matches which secured Brazil the respective titles.

Year Match type Opponent Result Manager Brazil scorer(s) Final location
Brazil 1919 Final (Play-off)  Uruguay 1–0 (a.e.t.) Brazil Haroldo Domingues A. Friedenreich Rio de Janeiro
Brazil 1922 Final (Play-off)  Paraguay 3–0 Brazil Laís Neco, Formiga (2) Rio de Janeiro
Brazil 1949 Final (Play-off) Paraguay Paraguay 7–0 Brazil Flávio Costa Ademir (3), Tesourinha (2), Jair (2) Rio de Janeiro
Brazil 1989 Final Round Robin  Uruguay 1–0 Brazil Sebastião Lazaroni Romário Rio de Janeiro
Bolivia 1997 Final  Bolivia 3–1 Brazil Mário Zagallo Edmundo, Ronaldo, Zé Roberto La Paz
Paraguay 1999 Final  Uruguay 3–0 Brazil Vanderlei Luxemburgo Rivaldo (2), Ronaldo Asunción
Peru 2004 Final  Argentina 2–2 (4–2 p) Brazil Carlos Alberto Parreira Luisão, Adriano (decisive penalty: Juan) Lima
Venezuela 2007 Final  Argentina 3–0 Brazil Dunga Júlio Baptista, R. Ayala (o.g.), Dani Alves Maracaibo
Brazil 2019 Final  Peru 3–1 Brazil Tite Everton, Gabriel Jesus, Richarlison (p) Rio de Janeiro

Record by opponent

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Brazil's biggest victories at continental championships were a 10–1 win against Bolivia in 1949 and a 9–0 win against Colombia in 1957, with Evaristo scoring five goals. Their largest defeat was a 0–6 loss against Uruguay in 1920.

Copa América matches (by team)
Opponent W D L Pld GF GA
 Argentina 10 8 16 34 40 53
 Bolivia 9 0 2 11 42 13
 Chile 17 2 3 22 61 25
 Colombia 8 2 2 12 32 6
 Costa Rica 2 1 0 3 9 1
 Ecuador 12 3 0 15 53 12
 Haiti 1 0 0 1 7 1
 Honduras 0 0 1 1 0 2
 Mexico 4 0 2 6 11 6
 Paraguay 13 11 7 31 62 31
 Peru 15 3 3 21 47 14
 United States 1 0 0 1 1 0
 Uruguay 9 9 9 27 37 40
 Venezuela 7 2 0 9 30 2
Total 108 41 45 194 432 206

Record players

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With 17 goals in 33 matches, Zizinho is both Brazil's all-time record player and most successful scorer at the tournament. He won the title once, in 1949.
Rank Player Matches Tournaments
1 Zizinho 33 1942, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1953 and 1957
2 Claudio Taffarel 25 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1997
3 Djalma Santos 22 1953, 1956, 1957 and 1959 (Argentina)
4 Roberto Carlos 21 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999
5 Dani Alves 19 2007, 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2019
Marquinhos 19 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024
7 Jair 18 1945, 1946, 1949 and 1953
Aldair 18 1989, 1995 and 1997
Dunga 18 1989, 1995 and 1997
Thiago Silva 18 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2021

Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Goals Tournaments (goals)
1 Zizinho 17 1942 (2), 1945 (2), 1946 (5), 1949 (5), 1953 (1) and 1957 (1)
2 Jair 13 1945 (2), 1946 (2) and 1949 (9)
Ademir 13 1945 (5), 1949 (7) and 1953 (1)
4 Didi 11 1957 (8) and 1959 (3)
5 Ronaldo 10 1997 (5) and 1999 (5)
6 Heleno 9 1945 (6) and 1946 (3)
7 Neco 8 1917 (2), 1919 (4) and 1922 (2)
Tesourinha 8 1945 (1) and 1949 (7)
Evaristo 8 1957
Pelé 8 1959 (Argentina)

Players with multiple titles

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Former defensive midfielder Dunga is the only Brazilian who has won the Copa América three times: Twice as a player (1989 and 1997) and once as head coach (2007).

In spite of Brazil winning four Copa Américas within ten years from 1997 to 2007, no single player has been part of more than two victorious squads. Twenty-three players, however, have won two tournaments each:

Player Championships
Amílcar 1919 and 1922
Agostinho Fortes
Arthur Friedenreich
Heitor
Marcos
Neco
Palamone
Aldair 1989 and 1997
Dunga*
Romário
Cláudio Taffarel
Cafú 1997 and 1999
Flávio Conceição
Roberto Carlos
Ronaldo
Zé Roberto
Alex 1999 and 2004
Diego 2004 and 2007
Juan
Júlio Baptista
Maicon
Vágner Love
Dani Alves 2007 and 2019

* Additionally, Dunga won the title as head coach in 2007. Another Brazilian with two titles is Danilo Alvim, who won the South American Championship as player (1949) and as head coach of Bolivia (1963).

Awards and records

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Team awards

Individual awards[1]

Team records

  • Most goals in one tournament (46, in 1949)
  • Victory with highest number of goals conceded (6–4 v Chile in 1937, tied with Chile 5–4 Peru in 1955 and Bolivia 5–4 Brazil in 1963)
  • Only team to simultaneously hold the Copa América and the FIFA World Cup title (1997-1998 and 2004–2006. During both spells they additionally won the FIFA Confederations Cup.)

Individual records

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Copa América Archive". RSSSF. July 19, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
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