FIFA-Affiliated Confederation: CONMEBOL
The Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol, CONMEBOL (Spanish)also known as the South American Football Confederation (English) and Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol (Portuguese) is the continental governing body of football in South America countries, with the exception of Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, which are part of The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, CONCACAF.
CONMEBOL has the double records of being the oldest continental confederation in the world, as well as the confederation that has the fewest member-association, ten (10).
MEMBERS
ARG Argentina
BOL Bolivia
BRA Brazil 1914
CHI Chile 1895
COL Colombia
ECU Ecuador
PAR Paraguay
PER Peru 1922
URU Uruguay
VEN Venezuela
There are sovereign states or dependencies in South America which are not affiliated with CONMEBOL but are members of other confederations or do not have affiliation with any other confederations at all.
Among them are Guyana (CONCACAF), Suriname (CONCACAF), French Guiana (CONCACAF), Falkland Islands.
As Falkland Islanders are British citizens born overseas, they are entitled to declare for any of the four Home nations. They may choose to represent Argentina as well.
CONMEBOL is responsible for the organization and governance of South American football’s major international tournaments.
COMPETITIONS
Copa América (1916-present)
UEFA-CONMEBOL Cup (starting 2024)
CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament
South American Under-20 Football Championship
South American Under-17 Football Championship
South American Under-15 Football Championship
Copa América Femenina
South American Under-20 Women’s Football Championship
South American Under-17 Women’s Football Championship
Copa América de Futsal
FIFA Futsal World Cup qualifiers
South American Futsal League
South American Under-20 Futsal Championship
South American Under-17 Futsal Championship
Copa América Femenina de Futsal
South American Under-20 Women’s Futsal Championship
Copa América de Beach Soccer
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup qualifiers
South American Beach Soccer League
South American Under-20 Beach Soccer Championship
Superclásico de las Américas
CLUBS
Copa Libertadores
Copa Sudamericana
Recopa Sudamericana
Copa Libertadores Femenina
Copa Libertadores de Futsal
Copa Libertadores de Beach Soccer
INTER-CONTINENTAL
Suruga Bank Championship
The main competition for men’s national teams is the Copa América, which started in 1916.
The Copa America is the only continental competition in which teams from a totally different continent and confederation can be invited to participate.
CONMEBOL usually selects and invites a couple of teams from the AFC or CONCACAF to participate in the Copa America.
Japan and Qatar were invited to participate in the 2019 edition of the Copa America.
CONMEBOL also runs national competitions at Under-20, Under-17 and Under-15 levels.
For women’s national teams, CONMEBOL operates the Copa América Femenina for senior national sides, as well as Under-20 and Under-17 championships.
In futsal, there is the Copa América de Futsal and Campeonato Sudamericano de Futsal Sub-20. The Campeonato Sudamericano Femenino de Futsal is the women’s equivalent to the men’s tournament.
CONMEBOL also runs the two main club competitions in South America: the Copa Libertadores was first held in 1960 and the Copa Sudamericana was launched by CONMEBOL in 2002 as an indirect successor to the Supercopa Libertadores (begun in 1988).
A third competition, the Copa CONMEBOL, started in 1992 and was abolished in 1999. In women’s football, CONMEBOL also conducts the Copa Libertadores Femenina for club teams. The competition was first held in 2009.
The Recopa Sudamericana is an annual match between the past year’s winners of the Copa Libertadores and the winners of the Copa Sudamericana (previously the winners of the Supercopa Libertadores) and came into being in 1989.
The Intercontinental Cup was jointly organised with UEFA between the Copa Libertadores and the UEFA Champions League winners.
FIFA-Affiliated Confederation: CONMEBOL. THE END.
By Bright Dafe
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