A brief history of … the Copa América, the tournament with a special kind of beauty

It’s the world’s oldest continental soccer competition – and Brazil aren’t even its most successful team. Scott Murray looks back on almost 100 years of drama

With the Guardian’s unstoppable rise to global dominance (NOTE: actual dominance may not be global. Or dominant) we at Guardian US thought we’d run a series of articles for newer football fans wishing to improve their knowledge of the game’s history and storylines, hopefully in a way that doesn’t patronise you to within an inch of your life. A warning: If you’re the kind of person that finds The Blizzard too populist this may not be the series for you.

The Copa América is … the international soccer competition to determine the continental champions of South America. It started life in 1910 as the one-off Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo, turned into the Campeonato Sudamericano de Football (the South American Championship) in 1916, then finally in 1975 became the tournament we know and love today as the Copa América.

Related: 12 players to watch at the Copa América

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