Colombia at the Copa América

Colombia playing Peru in the quarter-finals of the Copa América Centenario at MetLife Stadium in 2016.

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 three Copa América finals. They lost the 1975 final play-off against Peru, but won the title at their first home tournament in 2001 after defeating Mexico. They then lost to Argentina in the 2024 final.

Overall record

South American Championship / Copa América record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad
Argentina 1916 Not a CONMEBOL member
Uruguay 1917
Brazil 1919
Chile 1920
Argentina 1921
Brazil 1922
Uruguay 1923
Uruguay 1924
Argentina 1925
Chile 1926
Peru 1927
Argentina 1929
Peru 1935
Argentina 1937 Withdrew
Peru 1939
Chile 1941
Uruguay 1942
Chile 1945 Fifth place 5th 6 1 1 4 7 25 Squad
Argentina 1946 Withdrew
Ecuador 1947 Eighth place 8th 7 0 2 5 2 19 Squad
Brazil 1949 8th 7 0 2 5 4 23 Squad
Peru 1953 Withdrew
Chile 1955
Uruguay 1956
Peru 1957 Fifth place 5th 6 2 0 4 10 25 Squad
Argentina 1959 Withdrew
Ecuador 1959
Bolivia 1963 Seventh place 7th 6 0 1 5 10 19 Squad
Uruguay 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
Argentina 1987 Third place 3rd 4 3 0 1 8 3 Squad
Brazil 1989 Group stage 6th 4 1 2 1 5 4 Squad
Chile 1991 Fourth place 4th 7 2 2 3 5 6 Squad
Ecuador 1993 Third place 3rd 6 3 2 1 6 4 Squad
Uruguay 1995 3rd 6 3 1 2 7 8 Squad
Bolivia 1997 Quarter-finals 8th 4 1 0 3 6 7 Squad
Paraguay 1999 5th 4 3 0 1 8 4 Squad
Colombia 2001 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 11 0 Squad
Peru 2004 Fourth place 4th 6 3 1 2 7 7 Squad
Venezuela 2007 Group stage 9th 3 1 0 2 3 9 Squad
Argentina 2011 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 1 1 3 2 Squad
Chile 2015 6th 4 1 2 1 1 1 Squad
United States 2016 Third place 3rd 6 3 1 2 7 6 Squad
Brazil 2019 Quarter-finals 5th 4 3 1 0 4 0 Squad
Brazil 2021 Third place 3rd 7 2 3 2 7 7 Squad
United States 2024 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 1 1 12 3 Squad
Total 1 Title 24/48 130 53 26 51 154 194

2001 Copa América

Iván Córdoba scored the decisive 1-0 in the 2001 Copa América final against Mexico. It was the defender's last goal of his international career, although he kept playing for Colombia for 10 more years.[1]

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 Colombia scorers Venue
Group stage  Venezuela 2–0 W F. Grisales, V. Aristizábal (p) Barranquilla
 Ecuador 1–0 W V. Aristizábal
 Chile 2–0 W V. Aristizábal (p), E. Arriaga
Quarter-finals  Peru 3–0 W V. Aristizábal (2), G. Hernández Armenia
Semi-finals  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 5–0 win against Panama in 2024. 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 3 5 8 16 17 40
 Bolivia 4 5 3 12 14 14
 Brazil 2 2 8 12 6 32
 Chile 2 3 7 12 11 20
 Costa Rica 4 0 1 5 12 4
 Ecuador 10 1 2 13 23 12
 Honduras 1 0 0 1 2 0
 Mexico 2 0 1 3 4 3
 Panama 1 0 0 1 5 0
 Paraguay 6 1 5 12 13 17
 Peru 3 7 8 18 17 30
 Qatar 1 0 0 1 1 0
 United States 4 0 0 4 8 1
 Uruguay 4 3 6 13 10 18
 Venezuela 4 2 1 7 11 3
Total 51 29 50 130 154 194

Record players

Carlos Valderrama is Colombia's player with the joint-most Copa América matches. He was honoured as best player at the 1987 tournament.
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
James Rodríguez 20 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2024
7 Arnoldo Iguarán 19 1979, 1983, 1987, 1989 and 1991
Luis Carlos Perea 19 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993
9 Freddy Rincón 18 1991, 1993 and 1995
David Ospina 18 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021

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 Luis Díaz 6 2021 (4) and 2024 (2)
4 Delio Gamboa 5 1957 (3) and 1963 (2)
Ernesto Díaz 5 1975 (4) and 1979 (1)
6 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)
9 Fulgencio Berdugo 3 1945 (2) and 1949 (1)
Neider Morantes 3 1997 (2) and 1999 (1)
James Rodríguez 3 2016 (2) and 2024 (1)

Awards and records

Team awards

Individual awards[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Roberto Mamrud (February 20, 2014). "Iván Ramiro Córdoba - International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  2. ^ "The Copa América Archive". July 19, 2007. Retrieved April 15, 2019.