Copa América Centenario facts for kids
| Centennial Cup America (English) Copa América Centenário (Portuguese) |
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|---|---|
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| Tournament details | |
| Host country | United States |
| Dates | June 3 – 26 |
| Teams | 16 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 10 (in 10 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Chile (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Argentina |
| Third place |  Colombia |
| Fourth place |  United States |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 91 (2.84 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,483,855 (46,370 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Eduardo Vargas (6 goals) |
| Best player | Alexis Sánchez |
| Best goalkeeper | Claudio Bravo |
| Fair play award | Argentina |
The Copa América Centenario (Portuguese: Copa América Centenário, French: Coupe Amérique Centennaire, English: Centennial Cup America; literally Centennial America Cup) was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa América, and was the first Copa América hosted outside South America.
The tournament was a commemorative version of Copa América (not the 45th edition). It was held as part of an agreement between CONMEBOL and CONCACAF as a special edition between the usual four-year cycle, and featured an expanded field of sixteen teams (an increase from the usual twelve), with all ten teams from CONMEBOL and six teams from CONCACAF. Despite the tournament being an official iteration of the Copa América, the winner did not receive an invitation to the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup due to the commemorative nature of the tournament, although eventual winner Chile had already qualified through its 2015 victory.
Chile became the fourth nation to win at least two consecutive titles in CONMEBOL tournaments, after Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil. Argentina, meanwhile, lost its third consecutive final in a major tournament, following losses to Germany at the 2014 World Cup and Chile at the 2015 Copa América.
Contents
Planning
In February 2012, Alfredo Hawit, then Acting President of CONCACAF, announced that the competition was expected to take place in 2016, as a celebration of CONMEBOL's centennial. CONMEBOL President Nicolás Leoz said, "Hopefully we can organize a big event, because we're 100 years old and we want to celebrate big."
The tournament was announced by CONMEBOL on October 24, 2012 and confirmed by CONCACAF on May 1, 2014.
On September 26, 2014, FIFA announced that the tournament had been added to the FIFA International Match Calendar, meaning that clubs had to release players called up to the competition.
The tournament occurred in June 2016, along with UEFA Euro 2016.
Sports executive corruption
The tournament was placed in doubt after several high-profile sports executive arrests were made, including people involved with media rights holder Datisa (using the trading name of "Wematch"), a partnership between three media rights companies—Full Play, Torneos, and Traffic Sports Marketing. In December 2014, Brazilian José Hawilla, the owner and founder of Traffic Sports, pleaded guilty to "corruption charges including racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering". In an indictment, the FBI stated that officials were to receive bribes totaling US$20million for the 2016 event. Datisa held agreements for the commercial rights with CONMEBOL and CONCACAF and had its bank account frozen, placing the tournament in jeopardy. On October 21, 2015, CONCACAF announced it had terminated its agreement with Datisa.
On October 23, 2015, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, and the hosting association U.S. Soccer Federation all confirmed that the tournament was going ahead as originally intended.
Trophy
A new trophy was supposed to be created for the tournament and was to be unveiled on July 4, 2015, at the 2015 Copa América final. No trophy was unveiled amidst the FIFA corruption scandal. However, CONMEBOL announced that, on April 28, 2016, a presentation for the trophy would take place in Bogotá, Colombia.
On April 28, 2016, it was explained on the Copa América website that the "new" trophy was in fact commemorative, and would only be given to the winning country to keep, while the original silver trophy would continue to be awarded to each winner of the tournament (including the 2016 winner). The Centenario trophy retains the silhouette of the original trophy's Grecian urn, but is plated in matte gold. The front of the trophy is adorned with a raised (and in the case of some parts of the logo, engraved) image of the Copa América Centenario wordmark and logo. On each side are raised and polished images of a connected North and South America, commemorating the first Copa América held outside South America. Instead of the traditional wooden base holding the names of all past winners, the base of the Centenario commemorative trophy includes 16 zones, in which the names of all 16 nations are engraved. Other details include: The logos of both CONMEBOL and CONCACAF (the two confederations with representatives in the tournament), the years "1916–2016" (commemorating the 100 years of CONMEBOL and Copa América), and the phrases "La Copa del Siglo" ("The Cup of the Century") and "Uniting the Americas".
Host selection
Luis Chiriboga, the President of the Ecuadorian Football Federation, stated the United States and Mexico were potential hosts of at least one stage of the competition. Hawit preferred the competition to be hosted in the United States for financial reasons, stating that "the market is in the United States, the stadiums are in the United States, the people are in the United States. The study that we have made [shows] that everything’s in the United States." In July 2012, CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb stated there was much organizing to be done.
On May 1, 2014, it was announced that the tournament would be held in the United States from June 3–26, 2016.
The decision to select the U.S. as a host was the object of criticism by Uruguay Football Association president Wilmar Valdez on June 7, 2016, who complained that the U.S. is "a country where they don't feel football", which "brings about problems." The complaint was voiced after Uruguay's defeat against Mexico, in favor of whom, he said, the event was biased. Just prior to the game itself, the Chilean anthem was mistakenly played instead of the Uruguayan anthem.
Venues
On January 8, 2015, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL announced the 24 U.S. metropolitan areas which had indicated interest in hosting matches.
The stadiums were chosen following a bidding process, with the minimum capacity to be 50,000. The final list of venues, anticipated to number between 8 and 13, was to be announced in May 2015. However, the list was not released and speculation regarding whether the tournament would be able to move forward arose because Interpol red notices were issued for the former presidents of the CONMEBOL and CONCACAF confederations in relation to the 2015 FIFA corruption case, including allegations that they accepted significant bribes in relation to the $112.5 million broadcasting deal for the event. However, officials from CONMEBOL expressed a desire to move forward with the event despite the scandal.
On November 19, 2015, the ten venues selected for the tournament were announced by CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, and the U.S. Soccer Federation.
| Pasadena, California (Los Angeles Area) |
East Rutherford, New Jersey (New York City Area) |
Houston, Texas | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rose Bowl | MetLife Stadium | NRG Stadium | Lincoln Financial Field |
| Capacity: 92,542 | Capacity: 82,566 | Capacity: 71,000 | Capacity: 69,176 |
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| Foxborough, Massachusetts (Boston Area) |
Santa Clara, California (San Francisco Bay Area) |
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| Gillette Stadium | Levi's Stadium | ||
| Capacity: 68,756 | Capacity: 68,500 | ||
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| Seattle, Washington | Chicago, Illinois | Glendale, Arizona (Phoenix Area) |
Orlando, Florida |
| CenturyLink Field | Soldier Field | University of Phoenix Stadium | Camping World Stadium |
| Capacity: 67,000 | Capacity: 63,500 | Capacity: 63,400 | Capacity: 60,219 |
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Participating teams
At the official announcement of the tournament, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF confirmed that all ten CONMEBOL members would be joined by six CONCACAF teams in the tournament. Among CONCACAF teams, the United States and Mexico automatically qualified. The other four spots were given to Costa Rica, the champion of the Central American Football Union by winning the 2014 Copa Centroamericana; Jamaica, the champion of the Caribbean Football Union by winning the 2014 Caribbean Cup; and Haiti and Panama, the two playoff winners among the four highest finishers in the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup not already qualified.
| CONMEBOL (10 teams) | CONCACAF (6 teams) |
|---|---|
Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile (title holders) Colombia Ecuador Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela |
United States (hosts) Mexico (automatic qualifier) Costa Rica (winners of 2014 Copa Centroamericana) Jamaica (winners of 2014 Caribbean Cup) Haiti (qualified via playoffs) Panama (qualified via playoffs) |
Draw
The group seeds and schedule were announced on December 17, 2015. The United States (Group A) was seeded as host, while Argentina (Group D) was seeded as the highest FIFA-ranked team in the CONMEBOL region during December 2015. According to Soccer United Marketing, Brazil (Group B) and Mexico (Group C) were seeded as they were "the most decorated nations in the last 100 years in international competitions from their respective confederations". However, there was criticism for not including Uruguay, which won two World Cups and was the Copa América all-time leader with 15 championships, or Chile, which was the defending Copa América champion going into the tournament.
The draw took place on February 21, 2016, at 7:30 pm EST, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Teams were seeded using the FIFA Ranking from December 2015.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina (1) Brazil (6) Mexico (22) United States (32) (hosts) |
Chile (3) Colombia (8) Uruguay (11) Ecuador (13) |
Costa Rica (37) Jamaica (54) Panama (64) Haiti (77) |
Paraguay (46) Peru (47) Bolivia (68) Venezuela (83) |
The four group pots contained four positions each, one from each group, as follows:
| Pot 1 | A1 | B1 | C1 | D1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pot 2 | A2 | B2 | C2 | D2 |
| Pot 3 | A3 | B3 | C3 | D3 |
| Pot 4 | A4 | B4 | C4 | D4 |
Squads
Each country had a final squad of 23 players (three of whom had to be goalkeepers) which had to be submitted before the deadline of May 20, 2016.
Match officials
| Country | Referee | Assistant referees | Matches officiated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina |
Patricio Loustau | Ezequiel Brailovsky Ariel Mariano Scime |
Costa Rica–Paraguay (Group A) Uruguay–Venezuela (Group C) Peru–Colombia (Quarterfinals) |
| Bolivia |
Gery Vargas | Javier Bustillos Juan Pablo Montaño |
Ecuador–Haiti (Group B) |
| Brazil |
Héber Lopes | Kléber Gil Bruno Boschilia |
Colombia–Paraguay (Group A) Mexico–Chile (Quarterfinals) Argentina–Chile (Final) |
| Wilton Sampaio | Gustavo Rossi Alexander Léon |
Mexico–Jamaica (Group C) | |
| Chile |
Julio Bascuñán | Carlos Astroza Christian Schiemann |
Brazil–Ecuador (Group B) United States–Paraguay (Group A) |
| Colombia |
Wilmar Roldán | Alexander Guzmán Wilmar Navarro |
Ecuador–Peru (Group B) United States–Ecuador (Quarterfinals) |
| Wilson Lamouroux | Alexander Guzmán Corey Parker |
Uruguay–Jamaica (Group C) | |
| Costa Rica |
Ricardo Montero | Octavio Jara Juan Mora |
Panama–Bolivia (Group D) |
 Cuba |
Yadel Martínez |  Joe Fletcher Darío Gaona |
Mexico–Venezuela (Group C) |
| Ecuador |
Roddy Zambrano | Luis Vera Byron Romero |
United States–Costa Rica (Group A) Chile–Panama (Group D) |
 El Salvador |
Joel Aguilar | Juan Zumba William Torres |
Argentina–Panama (Group D) Colombia–Chile (Semifinals) |
| Mexico |
Roberto García | José Luis Camargo Alberto Morín |
United States–Colombia (Group A) Argentina–Venezuela (Quarterfinals) |
| Panama |
John Pitti | Gabriel Victoria Cristian Ramírez |
Haiti–Peru (Group B) |
| Paraguay |
Enrique Cáceres | Eduardo Cardozo Milciades Saldívar |
Mexico–Uruguay (Group C) United States–Argentina (Semifinals) |
| Peru |
Víctor Carrillo | Jorge Luis Yupanqui Namuche Coty Carrera |
Jamaica–Venezuela (Group C) Argentina–Bolivia (Group D) |
| United States |
Mark Geiger | Charles Morgante Joe Fletcher |
Brazil–Haiti (Group B) |
| Jair Marrufo | Peter Manikowski Corey Rockwell |
Chile–Bolivia (Group D) | |
| Uruguay |
Daniel Fedorczuk | Nicolás Taran Richard Trinidad |
Argentina–Chile (Group D) United States–Colombia (Third place playoff) |
| Andrés Cunha | Nicolás Taran Richard Trinidad |
Brazil–Peru (Group B) | |
| Venezuela |
José Argote | Luis Murillo Luis Alfonso Sánchez Pérez |
Colombia–Costa Rica (Group A) |
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Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of Copa América Centenario took place at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara 9:00 pm EDT (UTC−4) on June 3, 2016, ahead of the opening match and featured musical performances by Colombian singer J Balvin, American singer Jason Derulo, and the Canadian band Magic!
Group stage
All times are EDT (UTC−4). The top two teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinals.
Tiebreakers
The ranking of each team in each group was determined as follows:
- Greatest number of points obtained in all group matches
- Goal difference in all group matches
- Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches
- If two or more teams were equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings would further be determined as follows:
- Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
- Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
- Greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned
- Drawing of lots
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (H) |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Colombia |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Costa Rica |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 4 | |
| 4 | Paraguay |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 |
(H) Host.
Copa América Centenario Group A Copa América Centenario Group A
Copa América Centenario Group A Copa América Centenario Group A
Copa América Centenario Group A Copa América Centenario Group A
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peru |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Ecuador |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5 | |
| 3 | Brazil |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 4 | |
| 4 | Haiti |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 | −11 | 0 |
Copa América Centenario Group B Copa América Centenario Group B
Copa América Centenario Group B Copa América Centenario Group B
Copa América Centenario Group B Copa América Centenario Group B
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Venezuela |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 7 | |
| 3 | Uruguay |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Jamaica |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | −6 | 0 |
Copa América Centenario Group C Copa América Centenario Group C
Copa América Centenario Group C Copa América Centenario Group C
Copa América Centenario Group C Copa América Centenario Group C
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Chile |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 6 | |
| 3 | Panama |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 3 | |
| 4 | Bolivia |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 |
Copa América Centenario Group D Copa América Centenario Group D
Copa América Centenario Group D Copa América Centenario Group D
Copa América Centenario Group D Copa América Centenario Group D
Knockout stage
In the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and third place match of the knockout stage, a penalty shoot-out was used to decide the winner if tied after 90 minutes. In the final, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were to be used to decide the winner if necessary. Should the final enter extra time, a fourth substitute would be allowed as part of FIFA's approval of rule changes based on IFAB's new regulations, but neither team in the final ended up taking advantage of this rule.
Bracket
Copa América Centenario knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Copa América Centenario knockout stage
Copa América Centenario knockout stage
Copa América Centenario knockout stage
Copa América Centenario knockout stage
Semi-finals
Copa América Centenario knockout stage
Copa América Centenario knockout stage
Third place play-off
Copa América Centenario knockout stage
Final
Copa América Centenario final
Statistics
Goalscorers
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Chile's Eduardo Vargas received the Golden Boot award for scoring six goals. There were 91 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 2.84 goals per match.
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
- Ezequiel Lavezzi
- Erik Lamela
- Renato Augusto
- José Pedro Fuenzalida
- Edson Puch
- Arturo Vidal
- Carlos Bacca
- James Rodríguez
- Enner Valencia
- Blas Pérez
- Salomón Rondón
1 goal
- Sergio Agüero
- Éver Banega
- Víctor Cuesta
- Ángel Di María
- Nicolás Otamendi
- Juan Carlos Arce
- Jhasmani Campos
- Gabriel Barbosa
- Lucas Lima
- Charles Aránguiz
- Frank Fabra
- Marlos Moreno
- Cristián Zapata
- Celso Borges
- Johan Venegas
- Michael Arroyo
- Jaime Ayoví
- Miller Bolaños
- Christian Noboa
- Antonio Valencia
- James Marcelin
- Jesús Manuel Corona
- Javier Hernández
- Héctor Herrera
- Rafael Márquez
- Oribe Peralta
- Abdiel Arroyo
- Miguel Camargo
- Víctor Ayala
- Christian Cueva
- Edison Flores
- Paolo Guerrero
- Raúl Ruidíaz
- Jermaine Jones
- Bobby Wood
- Gyasi Zardes
- Graham Zusi
- Mathías Corujo
- Diego Godín
- Abel Hernández
- Josef Martínez
- José Manuel Velázquez
1 own goal
- Frank Fabra (against Costa Rica)
- Je-Vaughn Watson (against Uruguay)
- Álvaro Pereira (against Mexico)
Awards
Winners
| 2016 Copa América Centenario champions |
|---|
 Chile 2nd title |
Individual awards
The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.
- Golden Ball Award: Alexis Sánchez
- Golden Boot Award: Eduardo Vargas (6 goals)
- Golden Glove Award: Claudio Bravo
- Fair Play Award: Argentina
Final Man of the Match Award
Team of the Tournament
The Technical Study Group announced the tournament's Best XI squad.
| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
Marketing
Sponsorship
| Sponsors | ||
|---|---|---|
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Match ball
The Nike Ordem Ciento was announced as the official Copa América Centenario match ball on February 21, 2016. The mainly white ball has red brush stroke decoration. It shows the official Copa América Centenario logo.
The Nike Ordem Campeón was used for the final match, in which golden brushes replaced the red ones.
Theme songs
- "Superstar" by American rapper Pitbull featuring Becky G is the official song of the tournament and both artists performed the song during the Final.
- "Breaking All the Rules" by English rock musician Peter Frampton, who performed the song during the Final.
- "In My City" by Indian Singer Priyanka Chopra, who also performed the song during the Final.
Broadcasting rights
CONMEBOL and CONCACAF
| Country | Broadcaster | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} Latin America |
DirecTV Sports | |
| Argentina |
Televisión Pública Argentina (Argentina matches only), TyC Sports (all matches) | |
| Bolivia |
TV Boliviana (all matches) | |
| Brazil |
Rede Globo (Brazil matches only), SporTV (all matches) | |
| Canada |
Univision Canada (Spanish) | |
| Chile |
Canal 13 | |
| Colombia |
RCN TV, Caracol TV | |
| Costa Rica |
Repretel, Teletica | |
| Cuba |
Cubavision International | |
| Ecuador |
Gama TV | |
| Haiti |
CONATEL, Tele Haiti | |
| Jamaica |
CVM TV | |
| Mexico |
Televisa, TV Azteca | |
| Panama |
Telemetro, TVMax, RPC-TV | |
| Paraguay |
Paraguay TV, Unicanal | |
 Peru |
América Televisión | |
| United States |
Fox Sports (English); Univision (Spanish) | |
| Uruguay |
DirecTV, Equital (Monte Cable, Nuevo Siglo, TCC) | |
 Venezuela |
Meridiano TV |
Rest of the world
| Country | Broadcaster | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Arab World | beIN Sports | |
 Australia |
beIN Sports, SBS | |
 Azerbaijan |
CBC Sport | |
| Western Balkans | Arena Sport | |
| Baltics | Viasat Sport Baltic | |
 China |
SMG, LeSports, PPTV, QQLive | |
 Equatorial Guinea |
RTVGE, Asonga TV, Canal+ | |
 Finland |
Viasat | |
 France |
beIN Sports | |
 Germany |
Sat.1, Kabel eins | |
 Greece |
Skai TV | |
 Hong Kong |
now TV, ViuTV | |
 Hungary |
Sport TV | |
 Iceland |
Stöð 2 Sport | |
 India |
Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD | |
 Indonesia |
Kompas TV | |
 Iran |
IRIB Varzesh | |
 Ireland |
Setanta Ireland | |
 Israel |
Sport 1 | |
 Italy |
Sky Italia | |
 Japan |
SKY PerfecTV! | |
 Kenya |
Startimes, Canal+ | |
 Malaysia |
Astro | |
 Myanmar |
Sky Net | |
 Netherlands |
Fox Sports Netherlands, NOS | |
 New Zealand |
Sky Sport | |
 Nigeria |
Startimes, Canal+ | |
 Norway |
Viaplay | |
 Poland |
TVP | |
 Portugal |
TVI | |
 Russia |
Match TV | |
 Singapore |
StarHub TV, Singtel TV | |
 South Africa |
Startimes | |
 South Korea |
KBS | |
 Spain |
Movistar+ | |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | Startimes, Canal+ | |
 Sweden |
Viasat Sport | |
 Taiwan |
CTV, TTV, CTi TV | |
 Tajikistan |
TV Varzish | |
 Thailand |
True Visions | |
 Turkey |
A Spor, A Haber | |
 United Kingdom |
Premier Sports | |
 Vietnam |
SCTV, VTVCab |
See also
In Spanish: Copa América Centenario para niños
- Soccer in the United States
- Football at the Pan American Games
