:1916 South American Championship

{{Infobox international football competition

| tourney_name = South American Championship

| year = 1916

| other_titles =

| image = Sudamericano de football 1916 brazilian art.jpg

| size = 200

| caption = Brazilian poster advertising the championship

| country = Argentina

| country-flagvar =

| dates = 2–17 July

| num_teams = 4

| confederations = 1

| venues = 2

| cities = 2

| champion = Uruguay

| count = 1

| second = Argentina

| second-flagvar =

| third = Brazil

| third-flagvar = 1889

| fourth = Chile

| matches = 6

| goals = 18

| attendance = 84200

| top_scorer = {{flagicon|URU}} Isabelino Gradín
(3 goals)

| player =

| updated =

| nextseason = 1917

}}

The 1916 South American Championship ({{langx|es|1916 Campeonato Sudamericano}}) was the first continental championship for national association football teams in South America. It was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 2 to 17 July during Argentina's Independence Centenary commemorations.{{Cite web |date=8 April 2019 |title=Historia de la selección argentina en la Copa América |url=https://www.stubhub.com.ar/magazine/argentina-copa-america-historia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712214012/https://www.stubhub.com.ar/magazine/argentina-copa-america-historia |archive-date=12 July 2019 |access-date=12 July 2019 |website=StubHub |language=es}}{{Cite web |last=Martins Barriga |first=Nicolás |date=2011 |title=Copa América: ¿Creación Argentina? |url=https://perio.unlp.edu.ar/pd/node/439 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712214022/https://perio.unlp.edu.ar/pd/node/439 |archive-date=12 July 2019 |access-date=12 July 2019 |website=Periodismo Deportivo |language=es}} The tournament was won by Uruguay, who drew (0–0) with Argentina in the last match of the tournament at Racing Club Stadium. Uruguay's Isabelino Gradín was the top scorer with three goals.{{efn|name=fn1|The match between Argentina and Uruguay played on 16 July had to be abandoned at 0–0 after only 5 minutes due to a riot among the spectators. The riot spilled over onto the field and the clash finished with the wooden tribunes on fire. As the match couldn't be rescheduled in the Estadio GEBA, it was replayed at the Estadio Racing Club. The partial result of the match in GEBA was declared void and superseded by the one from Avellaneda.{{Cite web |last=Balmaceda |first=Daniel |date=27 November 2018 |title=1916: once policías para 30 mil hinchas en el primer escándalo del fútbol |url=https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/1916-once-policias-30-mil-hinchas-primer-nid2196465/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |website=La Nación |language=es}}{{Cite news |date=17 July 1916 |title=Triste epílogo del Campeonato Sudamericano |work=La Vanguardia |language=es}}}}{{Cite web |last=Ronzano |first=Gustavo |last2=Barnade |first2=Oscar |date=23 July 2005 |title=Chau tablón |url=http://www.servicios.clarin.com/notas/jsp/v7/notas/imprimir.jsp?pagid=1019420 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110708162254/http://www.servicios.clarin.com/notas/jsp/v7/notas/imprimir.jsp |archive-date=8 July 2011 |access-date=6 November 2013 |website=Clarín |language=es}}{{Cite web |last=Tabeira |first=Martín |date=10 August 2007 |title=South American Championship 1916 |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tables/16safull.html |access-date=9 July 2024 |website=RSSSF}}

Venues

The tournament was played in only two venues. All matches, except the last one, were played at Estadio GEBA.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
Buenos Aires ! Avellaneda
Estadio GEBA \| Estadio Racing Club
Capacity: 18,000 \| Capacity: 30,000
200px \| 200px
colspan="2"\| {{location map+ \|Argentina \|width=300 \|float=center\|caption= \|places= {{location map~\|Argentina\|lat=-34.545270\|long=-59.449735 \|label=Buenos Aires\|position=top}} {{location map~\|Argentina\|lat=-34.6625\|long=-58.367778 \|label=Avellaneda \|position=bottom}} }}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

Buenos Aires

! Avellaneda

Estadio GEBA

| Estadio Racing Club

Capacity: 18,000

| Capacity: 30,000

200px

| 200px

colspan="2"|

{{location map+ |Argentina |width=300 |float=center|caption= |places=

{{location map~|Argentina|lat=-34.545270|long=-59.449735 |label=Buenos Aires|position=top}}

{{location map~|Argentina|lat=-34.6625|long=-58.367778 |label=Avellaneda |position=bottom}}

}}

Teams

There was no qualifying for the tournament. The participating countries were Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.

=Squads=

File:Uruguay 1916.jpg

Format

The teams played a single round-robin tournament, earning two points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss.

Final round

Each team played one match against each of the other teams. Two points were awarded for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a defeat.

width=165 \| Team ! width=20 \| {{Tooltip\|Pld\|Played}} ! width=20 \| {{Tooltip\|W\|Won}} ! width=20 \| {{Tooltip\|D\|Drawn}} ! width=20 \| {{Tooltip\|L\|Lost}} ! width=20 \| {{Tooltip\|GF\|Goals for}} ! width=20 \| {{Tooltip\|GA\|Goals against}} ! width=20 \| {{Tooltip\|GD\|Goal difference}} ! width=20 \| {{Tooltip\|Pts\|Points}}
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
bgcolor=gold \| align=left \| {{fb\|URU}} \|3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	5
align=left \| {{fb\|ARG}} \|3	1	2	0	7	2	+5	4
align=left \| {{fb\|BRA\|1889}} \|3	0	2	1	3	4	−1	2
align=left \| {{fb\|CHI}} \|3	0	1	2	2	11	−9	1