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 July 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]

1916 South American Championship

Brazilian poster advertising the championship
Tournament details
Host country	Argentina
Dates	2 July– 17 July
Teams	4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Uruguay (1st title)
Runners-up	Argentina
Third place	Brazil
Fourth place	Chile
Tournament statistics
Matches played	6
Goals scored	18 (3 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Isabelino Gradín (3 goals)

Squads

Uruguay, the first South American Champion

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

Final round

Each team played one match against each of the other teams. Two (2) points were awarded for a win, one (1) point for a draw and zero (0) points for a defeat.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Uruguay 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 5  Argentina 3 1 2 0 7 2 +5 4  Brazil 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2  Chile 3 0 1 2 2 11 −9 1 2 July 1916 Uruguay  4–0  Chile Piendibene  44', 75' Gradín  55', 70' Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires Referee: Hugo Gronda (Argentina) 6 July 1916 Argentina  6–1  Chile Ohaco  2', 75' J.D. Brown  60' (pen.), 62' (pen.) Marcovecchio  67', 81' Báez  44' Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires Referee: Sidney Pullen (Brazil) 8 July 1916 Brazil  1–1  Chile Demósthenes  29' Salazar  85' Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires Referee: León Peyrou (Uruguay) 10 July 1916 Argentina  1–1  Brazil Laguna  10' Alencar  23' Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Carlos Fanta (Chile) 12 July 1916 Uruguay  2–1  Brazil Gradín  58' Tognola  77' Friedenreich  8' Gimnasia y Esgrima, Buenos Aires Referee: Carlos Fanta (Chile) 17 July 1916 Argentina  0–0  Uruguay Racing Club, Avellaneda Referee: Carlos Fanta (Chile) Result  1916 South American Championship winners  Uruguay 1st title

Goal scorers

3 goals

• Isabelino Gradín

2 goals

Juan Domingo Brown Alberto Marcovecchio

Alberto Ohaco José Piendibene

1 goal

José Laguna Alencar Demósthenes

Arthur Friedenreich Telésforo Báez Hernando Salazar

José Tognola

Notes

1. 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 within the spectators. The riot spilled over into 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 null and overtaken by the one in Avellaneda.[3][4][5]

References

1. Historia de la selección argentina en la Copa América on Stub Hub magazine, 8 Apr 2019
2. Copa América: ¿Creación Argentina? Archived 2019-07-12 at the Wayback Machine by Nicolás Martins Barriga on UNLP website, 2011
3. Chau tablón by Gustavo Ronzano and Oscar Barnade on Clarín, 23 Jul 2005 (archived, 6 Nov 2013)
4. 1916: once policías para 30 mil hinchas en el primer escándalo del fútbol by Daniel Balmaceda on La Nación, 27 Nov 2018
5. "Triste epílogo del Campeonato Sudamericano" on La Vanguardia newspaper, 17 Jul 1916
6. South American Championship 1916 by Martín Tabeira on the RSSSF