1916 South American Championship
The 1916 South American Championship was the first continental championship for national association football teams in South America. It was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 2 to 17 July during Argentina's Independence Centenary commemorations.[1][2] The tournament was won by Uruguay, who drew with Argentina in the last match of the tournament at Racing Club Stadium.[note 1][3][6]
![]() Brazilian poster advertising the championship | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Argentina |
| Dates | 2–17 July |
| Teams | 4 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | |
| Runners-up | |
| Third place | |
| Fourth place | |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Goals scored | 18 (3 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | (3 goals) |
Squads

For a complete list of participating squads see: 1916 South American Championship squads
Format
There was no qualifying for the tournament. The participating countries were Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The teams played a single round-robin tournament, earning two points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss.
Venues
| Buenos Aires | Avellaneda |
|---|---|
| Gimnasia y Esgrima | Racing |
| Capacity: 18,000 | Capacity: 30,000 |
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Final round
Each team played one match against each of the other teams. Two points were awarded for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a defeat.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 5 | |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 4 | |
| 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 | |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 1 |
| Uruguay | 4–0 | |
|---|---|---|
| Piendibene Gradín |
| Argentina | 6–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Ohaco J.D. Brown Marcovecchio |
Baez |
| Brazil | 1–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Demósthenes |
Salazar |
| Uruguay | 2–1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Gradín Tognola |
Friedenreich |
| Argentina | 0–0 | |
|---|---|---|
Goalscorers

There were 18 goals scored in 6 matches, for an average of 3 goals per match.
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
José Laguna
Alencar
Demósthenes
Arthur Friedenreich
Telésforo Báez
Hernando Salazar
José Tognola
Source: RSSSF
Notes
- The match between Argentina and Uruguay played on 16 July had to be abandoned at 0–0 after only 5 minutes due to a riot among the spectators. The riot spilled over onto the field and the clash finished with the wooden tribunes on fire. As the match couldn't be rescheduled in the Gimnasia y Esgrima Stadium, it was replayed at Racing Club Stadium. The partial result of the match in GEBA was declared void and superseded by the one from Avellaneda.[3][4][5]
References
- Historia de la selección argentina en la Copa América Archived 12 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine on Stub Hub magazine, 8 April 2019
- Copa América: ¿Creación Argentina? Archived 12 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine by Nicolás Martins Barriga on UNLP website, 2011
- Chau tablón by Gustavo Ronzano and Oscar Barnade on Clarín, 23 July 2005 (archived, 6 November 2013)
- 1916: once policías para 30 mil hinchas en el primer escándalo del fútbol by Daniel Balmaceda on La Nación, 27 November 2018
- "Triste epílogo del Campeonato Sudamericano" on La Vanguardia newspaper, 17 July 1916
- South American Championship 1916 by Martín Tabeira on the RSSSF


