Countdown to the Copa Centenario – a record-breaking primer ahead of kick-off
There are now less than 50 days until the start of the Copa Centenario, the special edition of the Copa América organized by CONMEBOL that is already in our archives for being the longest running football competition for national teams. Originally known as the South American Championship, this year marks the 45th edition of the competition.
A tournament with such a long track record has left us with a lot of significant Guinness World Records titles, from individual feats such as the most goals scored in Copa America tournaments, a title shared by the Argentinian Norberto Méndez (1945-56) and Brazilian Zizinho (1941-53) both with 17 goals in total; or collective achievements like the most wins of the Copa America currently held by Uruguay who won their 15th tournament in 2011, one more than neighbour and eternal rival Argentina.
Ecuador were on the wrong end of the highest score in a Copa America match, losing 0-12 to Argentina in 1942. But the Andean nation has a positive entry in the archives thanks to diminutive midfielder Álex Aguinaga. In 2004 he appeared in the competition for the 8th time equaling the Guinness World Records title for the most Copa America tournament appearances by a player – the Uruguayan Ángel Romano set the record between 1916 and 1926.
What about the coaches? To this day Englishman Jack Greewall is still the only non-South American manager to win the contest, he did so with Peru in 1939.
The coach with the most Copa América trophies is Guillermo Stábile, the Argentine was champion on 6 occasions with his native country and even won the only Panamerican Championships that was held in 1960.
In 2016 the tournament will see plenty of Guinness World Records title holders in action, for example:
Lionel Messi (Argentina) – a multiple record-breaker thanks to his individual achievements with Barcelona. He is the all-time topscorer in La Liga and has the most FIFA World Player of the year awards.
Neymar (Brasil) – entered into the 2015 Guinness World Records book for being the first player to score a hat-trick in the Copa Libertadores and the Champions League. The most important club competitions in South America and Europe respectively.
If he can score four goals during the Copa Centenario he’ll be the youngest player to score 50 international goals. Right now he’s on 46 and he’s only 24!
Eduardo Vargas (Chile) – when the forward played for Universidad de Chile he broke the record for the most goals scored in a single Copa Sudamericana, he racked up 11 goals in the 2011 edition.
Tim Howard (USA) – the veteran goalkeeper found his way into the Guinness World Records family in 2014 for his world class performance in Brazil. He pulled off 16 saves against Belgium, the most saves in a FIFA World Cup match.
Here in the Guinness World Records offices we can’t wait for the first ball to be kicked in San Francisco as another exciting version of this classic tournament gets underway.