How Often Is The Copa America? (Full Schedule And History)

In the modern era, Europe's 'Big Five' leagues contain the most technical and tactically advanced teams in football. However, the major international tournaments that take place every few years still retain a kind of magic, and for many fans these competitions remain the pinnacle of the sport.

In this article, we'll be diving into one of the biggest international tournaments in the sport's history: the Copa America. We'll dive into the roots of the format and its development over the years, before explaining how often the Copa America takes place.

What Is The Copa America?

The Copa America is the biggest international soccer competition in South America. The tournament is organised by the Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol, known to most people as CONMEBOL, football's governing body for South America. CONMEBOL was founded back in 1916 and have been responsible for organising the Copa America since that same year.

The Copa America pits the best teams in Latin America against each other. In total, 16 teams compete in each edition of the tournament, 10 from CONMEBOL and 6 from CONCACAF (the governing body for North America, Central America and the Caribbean). Only 10 nations make up the CONMBEOL group, which means that heavyweights of the international football scene such as Brazil and Argentina and other South American countries like Chile, Colombia and Uruguay are also joined by nations from Central America and the Caribbean such as Jamaica, Mexico and Panama.

A Brief History Of The Copa America

The format of Copa America has not remained the same ever since the formation of the competition. But for a tournament that's over 100 years old, that's hardly a surprise. Following the success of an unofficial South American tournament in 1910, the cup was first established as Campeonato Sudamericano de Football in 1916, with Argentina hosting the inaugural event to mark the centennial celebration of its independence. Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil competed against each other, with Uruguay lifting the trophy. CONMEBOL was officially founded in the aftermath of the tournament, when the popularity of organised South American international football had become extremely clear to all involved.

As the 20th century continued, the Copa America became firmly established as an international competition, with Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay asserting their dominance throughout the history of the competition; between them, these three nations have won 40 of the 48 editions of Copa America that have taken place since 1916.

Today, with 16 teams competing in the tournament each time and South American nations also having to contend with CONCACAF countries, there's plenty of competition. Both Chile and Colombia have broken through to get their hands on the trophy in the 21st century, although Argentina remain the most successful nation in the history of the competition, with a total of 16 trophy wins.

Copa America Schedule: How Often Is Copa America?

Throughout most of its history, Copa America has been staged more regularly than the two other huge, globally watched international football tournaments: the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. While both those competitions take place every four years, Copa America has historically been hosted every two years.

In periods of its history, Copa America has even been an annual competition; between 1920 and 1927 there were eight editions of the tournament, while the post-Second World War years saw three consecutive tournaments in 1945, 1946 and 1947. In 1975, the name Copa America became the official title of the tournament, and a new quadrennial system was created that involved games taking place throughout the calendar year in different South American countries. It wasn't until 1987 that CONMEBOL finally settled on a regular biannual competition taking place every two years. 

This structure remained in place until the 20th century; between 2001 and 2007, Copa America took place every three years, before in 2007 the tournament was turned into a quadrennial event occurring every four years. This schedule was disrupted in 2016 when a special edition of Copa America was organised to mark 100 years since its formation. The four-year cycle continued with the 2019 tournament in Brazil, after which CONMEBOL switched the tournament to even years to coincide with the World Cup-European Championship cycle. The 2020 tournament was delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and in 2024 the standard four-year cycle resumed.

Due to the inconsistent nature of the Copa America schedule over the past 20+ years, many people are confused about how often the tournament takes place. However, we've now entered a simpler era where the Copa America is hosted in a different country every four years.

Want to find out more about one of the football bodies that feeds into the Copa America? Check out our in-depth guide to CONCACAF, the body for North and Central America and the Caribbean.