Description

The course of the 2016 Copa América

The 2016 special edition of the Copa América was held to celebrate the centennial of CONMEBOL and the tournament itself, and was played for the first time outside South America – in the United States. The tournament also featured a record 16 teams, 10 from CONMEBOL and six from CONCACAF.

It was quite a surprise to see the Brazilian national team drop out already in the group stage. The hosts did not do badly, eventually finishing 4th. However, in the match for the final they were clearly weaker than Argentina. The second finalist was the Chile, which, among other things, crushed Mexico 7–0 in the quarterfinals along the way.

The final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford (New York metropolitan area) was a repeat of the edition from a year ago, where Chile and Argentina also faced each other in the match for gold (Chile won then after penalty kicks, triumphing in the Copa América for the first time in history).

It was no different this time, either: Chile won after a series of penalty kicks, defending the title of South American champions. After the game, the Albiceleste's famous captain Leo Messi, who missed the penalty kick, announced the end of his national team career. He later reversed that decision, which brought him many more victories with the national team, most notably in the 2022 World Cup.

All tournament matches

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Quarterfinal

Semifinal

Third place play-off

Final

Attendance

• Total: 1,483,855
• Average: 46,370