Mexico at the Copa América
The Copa América is South America's major tournament in senior men's football 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]
Mexico are not members of the South American football confederation CONMEBOL, but because CONMEBOL only has ten member associations, guest nations have regularly been invited to participate in the Copa América since 1993. Mexico have been the most regular invitee, competing in ten consecutive Copas from 1993 to 2016. However, they did not play in the 2019 or 2021 editions. In 2024, Mexico qualified for the Copa América via the CONCACAF Nations League.
Mexico have reached the final twice, and finished third on three more occasions. This makes Mexico the most successful invitee by far, and are even ahead of CONMEBOL member Venezuela in the Copa América all-time table.
Record at the Copa América
| Copa América record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA |
| 1916–1991 | Not invited | |||||||
| 1993 | Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 7 |
| 1995 | Quarter-finals | 7th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| 1997 | Semi-finals | 3rd | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 |
| 1999 | Semi-finals | 3rd | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
| 2001 | Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| 2004 | Quarter-finals | 6th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 2007 | Semi-finals | 3rd | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 5 |
| 2011 | Group stage | 12th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2015 | Group stage | 11th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 2016 | Quarter-finals | 7th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| 2019 | Not invited | |||||||
| 2021 | ||||||||
| 2024 | Group stage | 9th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | Runners-up | 11/13 | 51 | 20 | 14 | 17 | 67 | 63 |
* Draws include matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
Record by opponent
Mexico's largest victory at the Copa América was a 6–0 win against Paraguay in 2007. Their largest defeat was a 0–7 loss against eventual champions Chile in 2016.
| Copa América matches (by team) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | W | D | L | Pld | GF | GA |
| Argentina | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| Bolivia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Brazil | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 11 |
| Chile | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 13 |
| Colombia | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Costa Rica | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ecuador | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| Jamaica | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Paraguay | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Peru | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 7 |
| United States | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Uruguay | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 7 |
| Venezuela | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| Total | 20 | 14 | 17 | 51 | 67 | 63 |
Record players
Rafael Márquez is one of only two players to compete in Copa Américas 17 years apart, the other being Álex Aguinaga. Concerning the exact time span between first and last match, Márquez is trailing 30 days behind Aguinaga's record of 17 years and 9 days.
| Rank | Player | Matches | Tournaments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claudio Suárez | 21 | 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2004 |
| 2 | Rafael Márquez | 18 | 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2011 and 2016 |
| 3 | Alberto García Aspe | 17 | 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2001 |
| Gerardo Torrado | 17 | 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2007 | |
| 5 | Jorge Campos | 14 | 1993, 1995 and 1999 |
| Cuauhtémoc Blanco | 14 | 1997, 1999 and 2007 | |
| 7 | Ramón Ramírez | 13 | 1993, 1995 and 1999 |
| 8 | Pavel Pardo | 11 | 1997, 1999 and 2004 |
| Daniel Osorno | 11 | 1999, 2001 and 2004 | |
| Ramón Morales | 11 | 2001, 2004 and 2007 |
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Goals | Tournaments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luis Hernández | 9 | 1997 (6) and 1999 (3) |
| 2 | Cuauhtémoc Blanco | 5 | 1997 (1), 1999 (2) and 2007 (2) |
| 3 | Luis García | 4 | 1995 |
| Nery Castillo | 4 | 2007 | |
| 5 | Alberto García Aspe | 3 | 1993 (2) and 2001 (1) |
| Omar Bravo | 3 | 2007 | |
| 7 | 8 players | 2 |
Awards and records
Team Awards
Individual Awards[2]
- Top Scorer 1995: Luis García (4 goals) (shared)
- Top Scorer 1997: Luis Hernández (6 goals)
Team Records
- Non-CONMEBOL member with most appearances (11)
See also
References
- ^ "Copa América". Encyclopædia Britannica. December 11, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
- ^ "The Copa América Archive". July 19, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2019.