CONMEBOL

South American Football Confederation
Abbreviation	CONMEBOL
Formation	9 July 1916; 107 years ago
Type	Federation of national associations
Headquarters	Luque, Paraguay
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Region served	South America
Membership	10 member associations
Official language	Spanish, Portuguese
Secretary General	Jose Luis Meiszner (resigned)
President	Wilmar Valdez
Website	www.CONMEBOL.com

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The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, /ˈkɒnmᵻbɒl/; Spanish: Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol;^[1] Portuguese: Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol^[2]) is the continental governing body of association football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Paraguay. CONMEBOL is responsible for the organization and governance of South American football's major international tournaments. With 10 member football associations, it has the fewest members of all the confederations in FIFA.

CONMEBOL national teams have won nine FIFA World Cups (Brazil five, Uruguay two and Argentina two), and CONMEBOL clubs have won 22 Intercontinental Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups. Argentina and Uruguay have also won two Olympic gold medals each. It is considered one of the strongest confederations in the world.

The World Cup qualifiers of CONMEBOL have been described as the "toughest qualifiers in the world",^[3]^[4] for their simple round-robin system, entry of some of the top national teams in the world, leveling of the weaker national teams, climate conditions, geographic conditions, strong home stands and passionate supporters. Currently, the Confederation is planning to create the first women's qualification to the FIFA Women's World Cup to replace the Copa América Femenina.

Juan Ángel Napout was the president of CONMEBOL until December 3, 2015 when he was arrested in a pre-dawn raid at a luxury hotel in Switzerland as part of the U.S. Justice Department's widening bribery case involving FIFA. Wilmar Valdez (Uruguay) is the new president.

History

In 1916, the first edition of the Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol, now known as the Copa América, was contested in Argentina to commemorate the centenary of the Argentine Declaration of Independence. The four participating associations of that tournament gathered together in order to officially create a governing body to facilitate the organization of the tournament. Thus, CONMEBOL was founded on July 9, 1916, Argentine Independence Day, under the initiative of Uruguayan Héctor Rivadavia, but approved by the football associations of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. The constitutional congress on December 15 of that same year ratified the decision.

Over the years, the other football associations in South America joined, with the last being Venezuela in 1952. Guyana, Suriname, and the French overseas department of French Guiana, while geographically in South America, are not part of CONMEBOL. Consisting of a French territory, a former British territory, and a former Dutch territory, and located near the Caribbean Sea, they are part of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), mainly due to historical, cultural, and sporting reasons. With ten member nations, CONMEBOL is the smallest and the only fully continental land-based FIFA confederation (no insular countries or associates from different continents).

Competitions

International

The main competition for men's national teams is the Copa América, started in 1916. 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 man's tournament.

Club

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 pits the past year's winners of the Copa Libertadores against 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.

Members

Country	Association	Founded	Joined	National team	Top division
Argentina	AFA	1893	1916	ARG (M, W)	Primera División
Bolivia	FBF	1925	1926	BOL (M, W)	Liga Profesional
Brazil	CBF	1914	1916	BRA (M, W)	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
Chile	FFC	1895	1916	CHI (M, W)	Primera División
Colombia	FCF	1924	1936	COL (M, W)	Primera A
Ecuador	FEF	1925	1927	ECU (M, W)	Serie A
Paraguay	APF	1906	1921	PAR (M, W)	División Profesional
Peru	FPF	1922	1925	PER (M, W)	Primera División
Uruguay	AUF	1899	1916	URU (M, W)	Primera División
Venezuela	FVF	1926	1952	VEN (M, W)	Primera División

Membership proposal

Country	Association	Founded	Joined	National team	Top division
New Zealand	NZF ^[5]^[6]	1891	—	NZL (M, W)	New Zealand Championship

CONMEBOL competitions

National teams:

Defunct

CONMEBOL Men Pre-Olympic Tournament

Club:

Defunct

Performances at FIFA tournaments

Men's

World Cup Finals

World Cup Participation and Results

Legend

1st – Champion
2nd – Runner-up
3rd – Third Place^[7]
4th – Fourth place
QF – Quarterfinals
R16 – Round of 16 (since 1986: knockout round of 16)
R2 – Second round (for the 1974, 1978, and 1982 tournaments, which had two group stages)
GS – Group Stage (in the 1950, 1974, 1978, and 1982 tournaments, which had two group stages, this refers to the first group stage)
1S – First Knockout Stage (1934–1938 Single-elimination tournament)
Q — Qualified for upcoming tournament
• — Did not qualify
— Did not enter / Withdrew / Banned
— Hosts

Combined CONMEBOL Appearances	7	2	1	5	2	3	5	4	3	4	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	5	6	TBD	TBD	80
Team	1930	1934	1938	1950	1954	1958	1962	1966	1970	1974	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	2022	Total Appearances	inclusive WC Qual.
Brazil	GS	1S	3rd	2nd	QF	1st	1st	GS	1st	4th	3rd	R2	QF	R16	1st	2nd	1st	QF	QF	4th			20	20
Argentina	2nd	1S				GS	GS	QF	•	R2	1st	R2	1st	2nd	R16	QF	GS	QF	QF	2nd			16	17
Uruguay	1st			1st	4th	•	GS	QF	4th	GS	•	•	R16	R16	•	•	GS	•	4th	R16			12	18
Chile	GS			GS	•	•	3rd	GS	•	GS	•	GS	•	•		R16	•	•	R16	R16			9	17
Paraguay	GS			GS	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	R16	•	•	R16	R16	GS	QF	•			8	19
Colombia						•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	R16	GS	GS	•	•	•	QF			5	15
Peru	GS					•	•	•	QF	•	R2	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•			4	16
Bolivia	GS			GS		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•			3	17
Ecuador							•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	GS	R16	•	GS			3	14
Venezuela								•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•			0	12
inclusive World Cup Qualification	7	2	1	5	4	8	9	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	TBD	TBD		164

FIFA Confederations Cup

Legend

1st – Champions
2nd – Runners-up
3rd – Third place
4th – Fourth place
GS – Group stage
Q — Qualified for upcoming tournament
•• — Qualified but withdrew
• — Did not qualify
× — Did not enter / Withdrew from the Copa América or withdrew from the Confederations Cup / Banned
— Hosts

Team	1992	1995	1997	1999	2001	2003	2005	2009	2013	2017	Total
Argentina	1st	2nd	•	•	•	×	2nd	•	•	•	3
Bolivia	•	•	•	GS	•	•	•	•	•	•	1
Brazil	•	×	1st	2nd	4th	GS	1st	1st	1st	•	7
Chile	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	Q	1
Colombia	•	•	•	•	•	4th	•	•	•	•	1
Uruguay	•	•	4th	•	•	•	•	•	4th	•	2
Total	1	1	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	1

Women's

Women's World Cup Finals

The following table shows the CONMEBOL representatives at each edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, sorted by alphabetical order.

Total	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	12
Team	1991	1995	1999	2003	2007	2011	2015	Total	inclusive WC Qual.
Argentina		•	•	GS	GS	•	•	2	6
Bolivia		•	•	•	•	•	•	0	6
Brazil	GS	GS	3rd	QF	2nd	QF	R16	7	7
Chile	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	0	7
Colombia			•	•	•	GS	R16	2	5
Ecuador		•	•	•	•	•	GS	1	6
Paraguay			•	•	•	•	•	0	5
Peru			•	•	•	•	•	0	5
Uruguay			•	•	•	•	•	0	5
Venezuela	•		•	•	•	•	•	0	6
inclusive World Cup Qualification	3	5	10	10	10	10	10		58

Corruption

On 27 May 2015, several CONMEBOL leaders were arrested in Zürich, Switzerland by Swiss police, and indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on charges of corruption, money laundering, and racketeering.^[8] Those swept up in the operation include former CONMEBOL Presidents Eugenio Figueredo and Nicolás Léoz. On 3 December 2015, the CONMEBOL President Juan Ángel Napout was arrested also.^[9]

CONMEBOL presidents

Headquarters of CONMEBOL in Luque, Paraguay

1916–1936 Héctor Rivadavia Gómez
1936–1939 Luis O. Salesi
1939–1955 Luis Valenzuela Hermosilla
1955–1957 Carlos Dittborn Pinto
1957–1959 José Ramos de Freitas
1959–1961 Fermín Sorhueta
1961–1966 Raúl H. Colombo
1966–1986 Teófilo Salinas Fuller
1986–2013 Nicolás Léoz
2013–2014 Eugenio Figueredo
2014–2015 Juan Ángel Napout
2015 Wilmar Valdez

Current champions

Competitions	Champion	Title	Runner-Up	Next Edition
Copa América	Chile	1st	Argentina	2016
Copa Libertadores de América	River Plate	3rd	Tigres UANL	2016
Copa Sudamericana	Santa Fe	1st	Huracán	2016
Recopa Sudamericana	River Plate	1st	San Lorenzo	2016
Suruga Bank Championship	River Plate	1st	Gamba Osaka	2016
U-20 Copa Libertadores	River Plate	1st	Defensor	2016
South American Under-20 Championship	Argentina	5th	Colombia	2017
South American Under-17 Championship	Brazil	11th	Argentina	2017
South American Under-15 Championship	Peru	1st	Colombia	2015
Copa América Femenina	Brazil	6th	Colombia	2018
Copa Libertadores Femenina	São José	3rd	Caracas FC	2015
South American Under-20 Women's Football Championship	Brazil	6th	Paraguay	2016
South American Under-17 Women's Football Championship	Venezuela	1st	Colombia	2015

Rankings

National teams

Top FIFA ranked team

Last updates:
- Men's national teams: 5 November 2015
- Women's national teams: 10 July 2015

Top men's national teams Rankings are calculated by FIFA.				Top women's national teams Rankings are calculated by FIFA.
CSF	FIFA	Nation	Points	CSF	FIFA	Nation	Points
1	1	Argentina	1442	1	6	Brazil	1975
2	4	Colombia	1224	2	25	Colombia	1747
3	5	Brazil	1209	3	36	Argentina	1621
4	8	Chile	1149	4	42	Chile	1559
5	18	Uruguay	1002	5	51	Paraguay	1459
6	34	Ecuador	764	6	54	Ecuador	1451
7	48	Peru	628	7	61	Peru	1412
8	50	Venezuela	612	8	65	Venezuela	1380
9	55	Paraguay	592	9	70	Uruguay	1361
10	67	Bolivia	521	10	96	Bolivia	1217

Clubs

Football Database Rankings

CSF	Club	Points
1	River Plate	1742
2	Corinthians	1705
3	Boca Juniors	1663
4	Grêmio	1658
5	Atlético Mineiro	1657
6	Racing Club	1630
7	San Lorenzo	1630
8	Cerro Porteño	1619
9	São Paulo	1614
10	Guarani	1604

Last updated: 30 August 2015

IFFHS

Zonal Ranking	IFFHS Ranking	Club	Points
1	5	Atlético Nacional	249.0
2	9	River Plate	228.0
3	14	Cruzeiro	219.0
4	16	Atlético Mineiro	208.0
5	18	San Lorenzo	204.0
6	21	Lanus	201.0
7	27	Emelec	184.0
8	30	Cerro Porteño	181.0
9	34	Club Nacional	172.5
10	35	Grêmio	172.0

Last updated on: January 13, 2015 – [1]

References

↑ Spanish pronunciation: [komfeðeɾaˈsjon suðameɾiˈkana ðe ˈfuðβol].
↑ Portuguese pronunciation: [kõfedeɾaˈsɐ̃w ˈsuw.ɐmeɾiˈkɐnɐ dʒi futʃʲˈbɔw].
↑ "La eliminatoria más difícil del mundo", ESPN (in Spanish)
↑ "South American WCQ toughest in world", ESPN
↑ A Bola "Blatter abre caminho para movimentação de Nova Zelândia", January 05, 2013.
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↑ There was no Third Place match in 1930; The United States and Yugoslavia lost in the semifinals. FIFA recognizes the United States as the third-placed team and Yugoslavia as the fourth-placed team using the overall records of the teams in the 1930 FIFA World Cup.
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External links

(English) Conmebol official website

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CONMEBOL – FIFA competition record Script error: The function "top" does not exist.