Top 5 countries with the most Copa America titles
Copa America is the premier football tournament for national teams in South America and it is controlled by the CONMEBOL.
The competition was founded in 1916 and is the oldest still-running international football tournament.
Some of the greatest players in history, including Lionel Messi, Pele, Diego Maradona, Luis Suarez and Ronaldo Nazario, have participated in the Copa America. And it has certainly increased its allure to fans around the globe.
Countries like Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay are among the most-followed national teams in the world. It therefore stands to reason that Copa America ranks among the most prestigious international tournaments on the planet.
The competition is also notoriously difficult to win. The extremely physical nature of South American football, coupled with the similar styles of participants, adds extra intrigue to Copa matches.
Since 1916, there have been 47 editions of the Copa America, with the schedule and format taking different forms and shapes throughout its 105-year history.
Of the 10-member nations of CONMEBOL, only two, Ecuador and Venezuela, are yet to win the Copa America.
In contrast, some of the more established sides on the continent have enjoyed far more success in the tournament.
Here is a rundown of the five countries with the most Copa America titles.
Note: Where two or more countries have the same number of trophies, runners-up medals are used as a tie-breaker.
Honorable mention: Peru - 2 titles (1 runners-up)
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#5 Chile - 2 titles (4 runners-up)
Chile finished in third place at the 2007 FIFA world Youth Championship. The core of that squad, including Alexis Sanchez, Arturo Vidal, Gary Medel and Mauricio Isla, went on to become mainstays in the senior national team.
Three years later, Chile ended a 12-year absence from the World Cup by making it to the knockout round in South Africa, a feat they repeated four years later.
Their most glorious moment came in 2015 when they lifted the Copa America on home turf, seeing off Argentina in the final on penalties. Chile finally ended their 99-year wait for continental glory.
Lightning happened to strike twice for the Chileans. Just a year later, they defeated the same opponent on penalties again in a special edition to mark the 100th-year anniversary of the tournament.
This happened to be the third consecutive final that Argentina had lost in as many years and prompted a visibly dejected Lionel Messi to infamously announce his international retirement.
Chile also finished as runners-up on four occasions, 1955, 1956, 1979 and 1987.
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#4 Paraguay - 2 titles (6 runners-up)
Paraguay occupy a unique position in South American football. They are not quite big enough to constantly challenge the big three but they have historically been better than the rest of the competition.
It therefore comes as no surprise that they are the fourth most successful side in the history of the Copa America.
La Albirroja finished as champions of South America in 1953 and 1979. Furthermore, they were runners-up on six occasions, with their most recent final loss coming in 2011.
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