This is the oldest running international tournament in the world and is contested by the ten teams that make up CONMEBOL in South America. In recent years guest teams such as Mexico from North America have also been invited to the tournament. Argentina and Uruguay have traditionally dominated this tournament with Brazil not performing as well as in the World Cup. Many teams have sent weakened teams to this tournament on a regular basis but it survives although it has had many long and irregular breaks between tournaments over the years.

Argentina and Uruguay have won the tournament the most, both with fourteen triumphs. Brazil follows next with seven with Paraguay and Peru with two, and Bolivia and Colombia with one.

This edition of the Copa America was held in Peru. The host nations Peru qualified from Group A, but could only finish second behind Colombia. Argentina returned to the tournament after skipping the last Copa America in 2001 and looked to be in great form with a 6-1 win in their first match. However, after a surprise defeat against Mexico, Argentina could only managed second in their group behind the unbeaten Mexicans. It was a similar case in Group C where a surprise defeat for Brazil in their last group game against Paraguay meant they finished second as well. However, more was expected of the Argentines as they had sent a much stronger team than the Brazilians. Brazil mainly sent their second-string side, giving all of their star players time off.

In the quarter-finals the traditional powers returned to form and Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia all reached the semi-finals. The defending champions Colombia were knocked out by an outstanding Argentina in the first semi-final. Brazil won on penalties against Uruguay in the second to set up the first Copa America final between the two traditional South American powers for several years. In the final Argentina went ahead twice but could not keep Brazil from coming back. Adriano scored a goal with the last kick of normal time to equalise the match at 2-2. With no extra time in the Copa America the match headed straight into a penalty shoot-out. Brazil continued their perfect penalty record from the semi-finals, and when Argentina missed two, Brazil were the new Copa America champions.

Group Stage

Group A

06/7 Colombia      1-0 Venezuela

06/7 Peru              2-2 Bolivia

09/7 Colombia      1-0 Bolivia

09/7 Peru              3-1 Venezuela

12/7 Venezuela     1-1 Bolivia

12/7 Peru              2-2 Colombia

Group B

07/7 Uruguay        2-2 Mexico

07/7 Argentina      6-1 Ecuador

10/7 Uruguay        2-1 Ecuador

10/7 Argentina      0-1 Mexico

13/7 Mexico         2-1 Ecuador

13/7 Argentina      4-2 Uruguay

Group C

08/7 Paraguay       1-0 Costa Rica

08/7 Brazil            1-0 Chile

11/7 Brazil            4-1 Costa Rica

11/7 Paraguay       1-1 Chile

14/7 Costa Rica    2-1 Chile

14/7 Brazil            1-2 Paraguay

Quarter-Finals

17/7 Peru             0-1 Argentina 

17/7 Colombia     2-0 Costa Rica

18/7 Paraguay     1-3 Uruguay

18/7 Mexico        0-4 Brazil

Semi-Finals                                  PENALTIES 

20/7 Argentina     3-0 Colombia

21/7 Uruguay       1-1 Brazil              3-5

3rd-Place Play-Off  

24/7 Colombia    1-2 Uruguay  

Final                                            PENALTIES 

25/7 Argentina    2-2 Brazil                2-4     

Argentina played great attacking football but could not break down the solid defence of Brazil in the final. This was a reversal of the traditional way of playing for both countries. The Brazilians were led by Adriano who scored most of their goals, and by Alex who set up many of the goals. The Argentine goalscoring was spread over many players and their lack of a consistent goalscoring forward hurt them against Brazil.

Top Goalscorer

7 - Adriano                   - Brazil

3 - Javier Saviola          - Argentina

3 - Carlos Bueno          - Uruguay

3 - Kily Gonzalez          - Argentina

2 - Luciano Figueroa     - Argentina 

2 - Luis Gonzalez          - Argentina

2 - Carlos Tevez           - Argentina

2 - Luis Fabiano           - Brazil

2 - Abel Aguilar            - Colombia

2 - Mahler Moreno       - Colombia

2 - Agustin Delgado      - Ecuador

2 - Nolberto Solano      - Peru

2 - Dario Silva               - Uruguay

2 - Vicente Sanchez      - Uruguay

2 - Fabian Estoyanoff    - Uruguay

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