United States at the Copa América

The Copa América is South America's major tournament in senior men's soccer and determines the continental champion. Until 1967, the tournament was known as South American Championship. It is the oldest continental championship in the world.^[1]

Until 1991, no nation outside of CONMEBOL took part in the tournament. Guest invitees only started to play in the 1993 edition. The United States was among the first two guest participants in the Copa América edition played in Ecuador that year, along with Mexico.

In the 1993 edition, the US lost to Uruguay 1-0, to host country Ecuador 2-0, and tied 3-3 with Venezuela, being knocked out in the group stage.

For the 1995 edition held in Uruguay, the US defeated Chile in the first match 2-1, lost to Bolivia 1-0 in the second match, and won 3-0 in an upset against Argentina in the final match, advancing in first. place with 6 points. The Americans defeated Mexico in the quarterfinals on penalties 4-1 after a goalless draw, but lost the semifinals 1-0 to Brazil and the third place 4-1 to Colombia, finishing fourth.

The United States was not invited to the 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2004 editions (held in Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia and Peru respectively.

The United States returned to the Copa América in 2007, when the competition was held in Venezuela. In that tournament, the US lost all three matches, 4-1 to Argentina in the first match, 3-1 to Paraguay in the second, and 1-0 to Colombia in the third, meaning the team was eliminated in the group stage.

After this edition, the US was not invited to the 2011 edition held in Argentina, and the 2015 one hosted by Chile.

In 2016, the United States returned to the competition, this time as the hosts of the Copa América Centenario, which celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the tournament with a larger competition, co-organized by CONCACAF and CONMEBOL. This made them the first non-South American country to ever host the Copa América. The US started the tournament by losing 2-0 to Colombia, winning 4-0 against Costa Rica, and 1-0 against Paraguay, meaning the team advanced to the knockout phase, where the team won the quarterfinals against Ecuador 2-1, only to lose to Argentina 4-0 and the third place 1-0 against Colombia. The team again finished in fourth place.

The US was not invited to the 2019 and the 2021 editions held in Brazil.

In 2024, the United States hosted the tournament, although for the first time they did not receive an automatic invitation and had to qualify through the CONCACAF Nations League. The US qualified after defeating Trinidad and Tobago in a two-legged playoff (with a 3-0 win at home and a 2-1 loss away, and a 4-2 win on aggregate). The team won 2-0 against Bolivia, but lost 2-1 in an upset by Panama and 1-0 against Uruguay, leading the US to becoming the first host country in the history of the competition to be knocked out in the group stage.

More information Year, Result ...

Copa América record

Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1916–1991	Not invited
1993	Group stage	12th	3	0	1	2	3	6
1995	Fourth place	4th	6	2	1	3	6	7
1997–2004	Not invited
2007	Group stage	12th	3	0	0	3	2	8
2011–2015	Not invited
2016	Fourth place	4th	6	3	0	3	7	8
2019–2021	Not invited
2024	Group stage	11th	3	1	0	2	3	3
Total	Invitation	0 titles	21	6	2	13	21	32

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* Draws include matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

• United States at the CONCACAF Gold Cup
• United States at the FIFA Confederations Cup
• United States at the FIFA World Cup