United States at the Copa América

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

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]

The United States are not members of the CONMEBOL, but because CONMEBOL only has ten member associations, guest nations have regularly been invited since 1993. With five participations, the U.S. are the second-most regular guest behind Mexico (eleven 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

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
1916–1991	Not invited
1993	Group stage	12th	3	0	1	2	3	6
1995	Fourth place	4th	6	2	1	3	6	7
1997–2004	Not invited
2007	Group stage	12th	3	0	0	3	2	8
2011–2015	Not invited
2016	Fourth place	4th	6	3	0	3	7	8
2019–2021	Not invited
2024	Group stage	11th	3	1	0	2	3	3
Total	Invitation	0 titles	21	6	2	13	21	32

* Draws include matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Match overview

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
2024	Group stage	Bolivia	2–0	Arlington
		Panama	1–2	Atlanta
		Uruguay	0–1	Kansas City

Record players

Alexi Lalas is the only American to score in two separate Copa América tournaments, 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
	Christian Pulisic	6	2016 and 2024

Top goalscorers

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)
	Folarin Balogun	2	2024
5	Eleven players	1

See also

• United States at the CONCACAF Gold Cup
• United States at the FIFA Confederations Cup
• United States at the FIFA World Cup

References

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

External links

• RSSSF archives and results
• Soccerway database

Head-to-head record

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Argentina	3	1	0	2	4	8	−4	033.33
Bolivia	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1	050.00
Brazil	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1	000.00
Chile	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Colombia	4	0	0	4	1	8	−7	000.00
Costa Rica	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	100.00
Ecuador	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	050.00
Mexico	1	0	1	0	0	0	+0	000.00
Paraguay	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	050.00
Panama	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1	000.00
Uruguay	2	0	0	2	0	2	−2	000.00
Venezuela	1	0	1	0	3	3	+0	000.00
Total	21	6	2	13	21	32	−11	028.57