The Copa América is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONMEBOL. Held since 1916, it is the oldest international continental football competition. It was originally called the South American Championship, changing to the current name in 1975.
Colombia have played in two Copa América finals. They lost the 1975 final play-off against Peru, but won the title at their first home tournament in 2001.
Overall record
| South American Championship / Copa América record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad |
 1916 | Did not participate | ||||||||
 1917 | |||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1919 | |||||||||
 1920 | |||||||||
| 1921 | |||||||||
| 1922 | |||||||||
| 1923 | |||||||||
| 1924 | |||||||||
| 1925 | |||||||||
| 1926 | |||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1927 | |||||||||
| 1929 | |||||||||
| 1935 | |||||||||
| 1937 | |||||||||
| 1939 | Withdrew | ||||||||
| 1941 | |||||||||
| 1942 | |||||||||
| 1945 | Fifth place | 5th | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 25 | Squad |
| 1946 | Withdrew | ||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1947 | Eighth place | 8th | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 19 | Squad |
| 1949 | 8th | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 23 | Squad | |
 1953 | Withdrew | ||||||||
| 1955 | |||||||||
| 1956 | |||||||||
| 1957 | Fifth place | 5th | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 25 | Squad |
| 1959 | Withdrew | ||||||||
| 1959 | |||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1963 | Seventh place | 7th | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 19 | Squad |
| 1967 | Did not qualify | ||||||||
| 1975 | Runners-up | 2nd | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 5 | Squad |
| 1979 | Group stage | 5th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | Squad |
| 1983 | 7th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | Squad | |
| 1987 | Third place | 3rd | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | Squad |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1989 | Group stage | 6th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | Squad |
| 1991 | Fourth place | 4th | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | Squad |
 1993 | Third place | 3rd | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | Squad |
| 1995 | 3rd | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | Squad | |
| 1997 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | Squad |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1999 | 5th | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | Squad | |
 2001 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | Squad |
| 2004 | Fourth place | 4th | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | Squad |
 2007 | Group stage | 9th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | Squad |
| 2011 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | Squad |
| 2015 | 6th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Squad | |
 2016 | Third place | 3rd | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | Squad |
 2019 | Quarter-finals | 5th | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | Squad |
| 2021 | Third place | 3rd | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | Squad |
| 2024 | Qualified | ||||||||
| Total | 1 Title | 23/47 | 124 | 49 | 25 | 50 | 142 | 191 | — |
2001 Copa América
| ||
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Colombia won all six tournament matches in regular time and without conceding. This achievement is a rarity in Copa América history. The same feat was achieved by Uruguay in 1917 and 1987, and by Argentina in 1921. However, those teams only played two or three matches at those tournaments. Víctor Aristizábal, who played for Cali in the Colombian division at the time, scored in all matches except the final at least once and became the tournament's top scorer.
| Round | Opponent | Score | Result | Scorers | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Venezuela | 2–0 | W | F. Grisales, V. Aristizábal (pen) | Barranquilla |
| Ecuador | 1–0 | W | V. Aristizábal | ||
| Chile | 2–0 | W | V. Aristizábal (pen), E. Arriaga | ||
| Quarter-finals | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Peru | 3–0 | W | V. Aristizábal (2), G. Hernández | Armenia |
| Semi-finals | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Honduras | 2–0 | W | G. Bedoya, V. Aristizábal | Manizales |
| Final |  Mexico | 1–0 | W | I. Córdoba | Bogotá |
Record by opponent
Colombia's highest victory in tournament history is a 4–0 against Venezuela in 1979. Their biggest defeat was a 0–9 loss against Brazil in 1957.
| South American Championship/Copa América matches (by team) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | W | D | L | Pld | GF | GA |
| Argentina | 2 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 38 |
 Bolivia | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 14 |
| Brazil | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 29 |
| Chile | 2 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 20 |
 Costa Rica | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
| Ecuador | 9 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 22 | 12 |
 Honduras | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Mexico | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
 Paraguay | 4 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 16 |
| Peru | 2 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 13 | 26 |
| Uruguay | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 18 |
| United States | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Venezuela | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 3 |
| Total | 42 | 24 | 47 | 113 | 131 | 184 |
Record players
| Rank | Player | Matches | Tournaments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leonel Álvarez | 27 | 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1995 |
| Carlos Valderrama | 27 | 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1995 | |
| 3 | René Higuita | 22 | 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995 and 1999 |
| 4 | Juan Cuadrado | 21 | 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021 |
| 5 | Víctor Aristizábal | 20 | 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2001 |
| 6 | Arnoldo Iguarán | 19 | 1979, 1983, 1987, 1989 and 1991 |
| Luis Carlos Perea | 19 | 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993 | |
| 8 | Freddy Rincón | 18 | 1991, 1993 and 1995 |
| David Ospina | 18 | 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021 | |
| 10 | Luis González Rubio | 16 | 1945, 1947 and 1949 |
| Gabriel Mejía | 16 | 1945, 1947 and 1949 | |
| Humberto Picalúa | 16 | 1945, 1947 and 1949 | |
| Efraín Sánchez | 16 | 1947, 1949 and 1957 |
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Goals | Tournaments (goals) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnoldo Iguarán | 10 | 1979 (1), 1987 (4), 1989 (3) and 1991 (2) |
| 2 | Víctor Aristizábal | 8 | 1993 (1), 1997 (1) and 2001 (6) |
| 3 | Delio Gamboa | 5 | 1957 (3) and 1963 (2) |
| Ernesto Díaz | 5 | 1975 (4) and 1979 (1) | |
| 5 | Carlos Arango | 4 | 1947 (1) and 1957 (3) |
| Antony de Ávila | 4 | 1989 (1) and 1991 (3) | |
| Freddy Rincón | 4 | 1993 (1) and 1995 (3) | |
| Luis Díaz | 4 | 2021 | |
| 9 | Fulgencio Berdugo | 3 | 1945 (2) and 1949 (1) |
| Neider Morantes | 3 | 1997 (2) and 1999 (1) |
Awards and records
Team awards
- Champions 1x (2001)
- Second place 1x (1975)
- Third place 5x (1987, 1993, 1995, 2016 and 2021)
Individual awards[2]
- MVP 1987: Carlos Valderrama
- Top scorer 1975: Ernesto Díaz (4 goals) (shared)
- Top scorer 1987: Arnoldo Iguarán (4 goals)
- Top scorer 2001: Víctor Aristizábal (6 goals)
- Top scorer 2021: Luis Díaz (4 goals) (shared)
- Best young player 2015: Jeison Murillo
See also
References
- ↑ Roberto Mamrud (February 20, 2014). "Iván Ramiro Córdoba - International Appearances". Retrieved April 15, 2019.
- ↑ "The Copa América Archive". July 19, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2019.