The Copa América Centenario final was a

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

match that took place on June 26, 2016 to determine the winner of the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

. It took place at

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at the

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, outside of the

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. The match was contested by Argentina and Chile, making it a rematch of the 2015 final. At this tournament, Argentina and Chile soon faced each other in

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, and the victory belonged to Argentina with a score of 2–1. But in the final, like the last one, Chile ultimately won on penalty kicks after a 0–0 draw, with Chile scoring only their last 4 penalties after going first and 2 Argentines missing. However, Chile won 4-2 this time. Forward

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

announced his retirement from international soccer after the defeat, his third consecutive final defeat with Argentina, although he later reversed this decision.

Background

This edition of the

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

was the first hosted by the United States. The match marked the sixth time Argentina reached the final since the tournament was rebranded ''Copa América'' in 1975. They also finished in the top two in 22 editions of the tournament's predecessor, the ''Campeonato Sudamericano'', in which winners were decided in a single group stage with no final match. At this time, Argentina's last international tournament win had been the Copa America in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. Meanwhile, this was Chile's fourth final appearance, having also finished in the top two in 1955 and 1956. Chile was the defending champions, having won their first international title in the previous year's edition as the host nation. This was Argentina's third major tournament final in a row, after the

2014 FIFA World Cup final The 2014 FIFA World Cup final was the final match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2014 World Cup, the 20th edition of FIFA's competition for national association football, football teams. The match was played at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janei ...

and 2015 Copa América final, a feat only done twice before in the history of national teams, by West Germany (1972, 1974, 1976) and Spain (2008, 2010, 2012).

Route to the final

Closing ceremony

Pitbull and

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performed the official song of the tournament, "Superstar", immediately following the match and trophy ceremony.

Match

As part of FIFA's approval of rule changes based on

IFAB The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is an international self-regulatory body of association football that is known for determining the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, the regulations for the gameplay o ...

's new regulations, a fourth substitute was allowed in extra time. However, neither team used the fourth substitution after the match went into extra time.

Details

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, valign="top" width="50%",

, style="width:60%; vertical-align:top;", Match rules *90 minutes. *30 minutes of

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

if necessary. *

Penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

if scores still level. *Maximum of three substitutions, with a fourth allowed in extra time.

Statistics

Post-match

Chile won their second consecutive final and defended the Copa América after their win in 2015, while Argentina lost their third consecutive final (preceded by the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

). The match had an attendance of 82,026, the largest in the history of

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announced his retirement from international soccer after the match, saying "I've done all I can. It hurts not to be a champion." Argentine newspaper ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal ''Clarín (Argentine newspaper), Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argen ...

'' speculated that other players, including

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

Javier Mascherano Javier Alejandro Mascherano (; born 8 June 1984) is an Argentine Association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. As a player, he played as a centre-back or defensive ...

and Gonzalo Higuaín were set to retire.

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reported that Ángel Di María,

Lucas Biglia Lucas Rodrigo Biglia (; born 30 January 1986) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Formerly of Argentinos Juniors and Club Atlético Independiente, Independiente, he spent sev ...

Ezequiel Lavezzi Ezequiel Iván "Pocho" Lavezzi (, ; born 3 May 1985) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a forward. During his career, his most important attributes were his pace, hardworking style of play, technique, creativity, and d ...

and

Éver Banega Éver Maximiliano David Banega (born 29 June 1988) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Central midfielder, central midfielder for Argentine Primera División club Newell's Old Boys. He started ...

could potentially retire as well. On August 12, 2016, Messi reverted his decision and announced his comeback to international soccer, saying "There were too many things in my head during the day of the last final and I seriously thought about letting it go, but I love my country and this jersey so much." Three of the aforementioned players (Agüero, Di María and Messi) would eventually win their first international title at the Copa América five years later. They would also go on to win the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, with Messi and Di Maria scoring in the final.

References

External links

Copa América Centenario official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Copa America Centenario Final

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2016 in Argentine football 2015–16 in Chilean football

June 2016 sports events in the United States Sports competitions in East Rutherford, New Jersey 2016 in sports in New Jersey 21st century in East Rutherford, New Jersey

Soccer competitions in New Jersey Soccer matches in the United States