Every Winner of the Copa America Best Player Award

There have been 15 winners of the Copa America Best Player award since 1987, with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo among those to do so.

The Copa America has been held 47 times, with varying interludes between tournaments, since 1916. It is the oldest still-running continental football competition on the planet and features the heavyweights of South America, including the likes of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay – all of whom appear multiple times on the illustrious list of World Cup winners.

Given the kind of incredible talent that has played for some of these countries, it’s no surprise that some of the game’s greatest have graced the Copa America and put in a series of impressive performances. Rough diamonds, cult heroes and Ballon d’Or winners have all been honoured with an award which eluded the legendary Diego Maradona throughout his glittering career.

The Best Player award has officially been handed out 15 times since being introduced in 1987 to 15 different players, while only one of them has won it in two separate editions. This article details every single winner of the Copa America Best Player award, when they won it and why.

1987 – Carlos Valderrama (Colombia)

Carlos Valderrama is instantly recognisable to any football fan due to his iconic blond afro. He is regarded as one of the greatest Colombian players of all time and was a highly creative playmaker, often making use of his close control skills to open up space in front of him to then provide incredibly precise passes.

Valderrama scored one goal at the 1987 tournament, Los Caferatos’ opener in their first group stage game against Bolivia, before also providing an assist later on in the competition. His performances helped Colombia to finish third, with Valderrama displaying his usual calmness and tempo dictation in the third-place playoff match against Argentina.

1989 – Ruben Sosa (Uruguay)

Ruben Sosa was a talented forward who was creative, agile and had a powerful shot with which he could score many types of goals. Comparisons can be made with a modern Uruguayan hero, Luis Suarez, with both being among the top European forwards of their time.

Sosa scored against Chile and Bolivia in important wins that sent Uruguay through to the final round of group-stage games in 1989. His most important two goals were against Argentina in the final round, as they gave Uruguay a chance at winning the tournament for the second time in a row. They fell to Brazil in the final group-stage match, however.

1991 – Leonardo Rodriguez (Argentina)

Another player with a distinctive hairstyle, Leonardo Rodriguez and his flowing mane won the Best Player award at the 1991 edition of the Copa America. Rodriguez was a skilled central midfielder who controlled the tempo for Argentina, whilst also using his technical ability to progress the ball.

Gabriel Batistuta finished as the tournament’s leading scorer thanks chiefly to the unrelenting supply line provided by Rodriguez. He had a helping hand in four of Argentina’s goals in Chile that summer as the continental behemoth won their 13th Copa America. He often delivered wicked set-pieces, including one against La Albicelestes’ biggest rivals, Brazil.

1993 – Sergio Goycochea (Argentina)

Sergio Goycochea first got his opportunity to star for Argentina at the 1990 World Cup, replacing Nery Pumpido when the established number one was forced out of the tournament through injury. Goycochea made several important saves and performed admirably as they fell to Germany in the final.

In the semi-final of the 1993 Copa America, El Goyco played a pivotal role. He nearly saved Carlos Valderrama’s penalty in the decisive shootout before rebuffing Victor Aristizabal’s spot-kick to put Argentina in a prime position to move on to the final, which they would go on to win. Despite only keeping two clean sheets across the tournament, Goycochea was a worthy winner.

1995 – Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay)

Enzo Francescoli was an elegant and creative midfielder who had very successful spells in both his native South America and Europe. He is one of Uruguay’s best-ever players and enjoyed a strong career with the national team, winning three Copas America.

Francescoli was a key part of a midfield at the 1995 Copa America that included Gus Poyet and Pablo Bengoechea. He scored a penalty in the group stage against Venezuela before netting the only goal in an important victory over Paraguay. He also set the tone for the all-important penalty shootout against Brazil in the final, converting the opening spot kick as Uruguay captured what was at the time a record 14th Copa America.

1997 – Ronaldo (Brazil)

Ronaldo wasn’t actually known as Ronaldo whilst he dominated the 1997 Copa America fresh off the back of tearing up defences in Spain. Instead, he was known as ‘Ronaldinho’ which means little Ronaldo in Portuguese, as one of his teammates was also called Ronaldo.

He opened his account in the group stage, scoring a brace against Costa Rica, displaying his excellent finishing skills and calmness under pressure with both goals. In the quarter-final against Peru, he scored two more goals, racing away from the defence before expertly finishing. His second goal was even better as he danced away from defender Giuliano Portilla before slotting home. He also scored in the final, making the best of a slightly wayward one-two and producing a powerful finish that flew over Bolivia goalkeeper Carlos Trucco.

1999 – Rivaldo (Brazil)

For the second tournament in a row, Brazil were powered to victory by a forward who was fresh off the back of dominating Spain’s La Liga. Rivaldo only scored one goal in the group stage of the 1999 Copa America before finding his range in both the quarter and semi-final.

The mesmeric trickster saved his best performance for the final, scoring a brace against Uruguay. His first was an absolutely superb flicked header from a free-kick, and his second was a wonderfully taken dink. It was an emphatic display, and with Ronaldo scoring the other goal, it was a perfect representation of their partnership during the tournament that yielded 13 goals between them.

2001 – Amado Guevara (Honduras)

The 2001 Copa America was perhaps one of the craziest tournaments to have happened. Security concerns saw the competition cancelled 10 days before it was due to begin because of concerns about the security of Colombia from CONMEBOL. Five days later, it was reinstated. Canada withdrew, but the bigger shock was Argentina, who pulled out of the tournament one day before it was due to begin as they claimed their players had received death threats from terrorist groups.

Honduras stepped up in their place and arrived at the tournament hours before they were due to play their first game on a plane provided by the Colombian Air Force. Amado Guevara and Honduras made the best of a tricky situation as his three goals helped the Central American nation advance from the group stage and eventually reach the semi-final, defeating Brazil on the way.

2004 – Adriano (Brazil)

The 2004 Copa America was arguably Adriano’s breakout tournament as he scored seven goals to fire Brazil to their third Copa America title in four tournaments. The imperious figure known as ‘The Emperor’ started off with a hat-trick against Costa Rica, Brazil’s first at the tournament for 45 years. A brace in the quarter-final helped the Selecao overcome Mexico before a single goal and a penalty in the shootout saw Brazil advance through to the final against Uruguay.

In the final, he scored a dramatic 93rd-minute equaliser to send the game beyond regulation and to a penalty shootout. Adriano converted from the spot for the second game in a row as Brazil defeated Argentina in what must be one of the best-ever Copa America finals.

2007 – Robinho (Brazil)

Robinho scored six goals as Brazil won the Copa America for the second time on the spin in 2007. Having come into the competition as defending champions, Brazil were under pressure once again to lift the trophy given the sheer talent in their squad, and they lived up to expectations by going all the way to the final and defeating Argentina 3-0.

Brazil had actually finished second in Group B behind Mexico, who would finish in third place in the tournament, and only squeaked past Uruguay in the semi-finals courtesy of a penalty shoot-out. Robinho would finish the tournament as both the top scorer and the best player.

2011 – Luis Suarez (Uruguay)

Luis Suarez began to cement his legacy as one of Uruguay’s greatest-ever forwards with his performances at the 2011 Copa America. El Pistolero formed a formidable duo with Diego Forlan, with the two often linking up to create chances for each other.

Suarez opened his account with a goal against Peru in the group stages before he scored his next two goals of the tournament against the same opponent at the semi-final stage of the tournament. He opened the scoring against Paraguay in the final before his strike partner Forlan added a brace that secured Uruguay’s 15th Copa America victory.

2015 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)

The first of Lionel Messi’s two best player awards came as Argentina finished runner-up for the second time in the Messi era. His only goal of the tournament was a penalty against Paraguay in the group stage, whilst his three assists all came against the same opponent in a 6-1 semi-final demolition.

Arguably the greatest player of all time performed admirably in the final, creating numerous chances with Gonzalo Higuain coming close to scoring in a moment similar to the 2014 World Cup showpiece, but Messi and co could not overcome Chile. While the legendary star may not have had his moment in the sun in 2015, the Inter Miami ace would get his chance to lift the trophy for the first time, several years later.

2016 – Alexis Sanchez (Chile)

Across Chile’s first 99 years of competing in the Copa America, they had never won the continental competition, finishing as losing finalists four times and collecting an unwanted bronze medal on five occasions. Marcelo Bielsa nurtured the early iterations of a golden generation which won consecutive Copa America titles in 2015 and 2016. Alexis Sanchez was the undisputed figurehead of this triumphant squad.

The one-man swarm scored the title-sealing penalty in 2015 – impishly dinking his spot kick in the shootout against Argentina – but delivered a more complete tournament performance 12 months later. After scoring three goals and creating another two, Sanchez was crowned as the best player in South America. Sitting with his sprawling collection of trophies after the final, he offered: “I am speechless.”

2019 – Dani Alves (Brazil)

Dani Alves scored one goal and was part of a Brazil defence that kept five clean sheets on their way to a first Copa America victory for 12 years in 2019. Having finished top of their group – their only dropped points coming against Venezuela – they squeezed past Paraguay in the quarter-finals thanks to a penalty shoot-out. A 2-0 win over arch-rivals Argentina would follow, before clinching the title in a 3-1 win over Peru in Rio de Janeiro. The then-36-year-old full-back would be named in the team of the tournament as well as being confirmed as the best player.

2021 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) & Neymar (Brazil)

For the first time in the competition’s history, the Best Player award was given to two players in 2021. Both Neymar and Lionel Messi were instrumental in their team’s run to the final. Neymar scored two goals in the group stage in wins over Venezuela and Peru. Additionally, he provided three assists, with the most important coming against Peru in the semi-final as Brazil narrowly beat their neighbouring country,

Messi scored four goals across the course of the tournament. Three of them came in the group stage as Argentina eased through to the next round with 10 points. He added his fourth of the tournament in the quarter-final against Ecuador. This was arguably his finest performance of the summer as he added two of his five total assists throughout the tournament during this game.

Neither of them contributed to a goal in the final, with Messi stumbling in front of goal after dribbling around Ederson and missing a golden chance to extend Argentina’s lead. It would not matter, however, as Argentina secured the first international trophy of Lionel Messi’s career.