1916 South American Championship

1916 South American Championship of Nations

Tournament details
Host country	Argentina
Dates	July 2 – July 17
Teams	4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Uruguay (1st title)
Runners-up	Argentina
Third place	Brazil
Fourth place	Chile
Tournament statistics
Matches played	6
Goals scored	18 (3 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Isabelino Gradín (3 goals)

The 1916 South American Championship of Nations was the first continental championship for national teams in South America. It was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina from July 2 to July 17 during Argentina's independence centenary commemorations. The tournament was won by Uruguay, who drew with Argentina in the last match of the tournament.

Squads

For a complete list of participating squads see: 1916 South American Championship squads

Format

There was no qualifying for the tournament. The participating countries were Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The teams plays in a single round-robin tournament, earning two points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss.

Venues

City	Stadium	Capacity
Avellaneda	Estadio Racing Club	30,000
Buenos Aires	Estadio G.E.B.A.	18,000

Final round

Each team played one match against each of the other teams. Two (2) points were awarded for a win, one (1) point for a draw and zero (0) points for a defeat.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Uruguay 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 5 Argentina 3 1 2 0 7 2 +5 4 Brazil 3 0 2 1 3 4 −1 2 Chile 3 0 1 2 2 11 −9 1 Uruguay v Chile July 2, 1916 Uruguay 4–0 Chile Piendibene  44', 75' Gradín  55', 70' Estadio G.E.B.A., Buenos Aires Referee: Hugo Gronda (Argentina) Argentina v Chile July 6, 1916 Argentina 6–1 Chile Ohaco  2', 75' J.D. Brown  60' (pen.), 62' (pen.) Marcovecchio  67', 81' Báez  44' Estadio G.E.B.A., Buenos Aires Referee: Sidney Pullen (Brazil) Brazil v Chile July 8, 1916 Brazil 1–1 Chile Demósthenes  29' Salazar  85' Estadio G.E.B.A., Buenos Aires Referee: León Peyrou (Uruguay) Argentina v Brazil July 10, 1916 Argentina 1–1 Brazil Laguna  10' Alencar  23' Estadio G.E.B.A., Buenos Aires Referee: Carlos Fanta (Chile) Uruguay v Brazil July 12, 1916 Uruguay 2–1 Brazil Gradín  58' Tognola  77' Friedenreich  8' Estadio G.E.B.A., Buenos Aires Referee: Carlos Fanta (Chile) Argentina v Uruguay July 17, 1916 Argentina 0–0 Uruguay Estadio Racing Club, Avellaneda Referee: Carlos Fanta (Chile) Result  1916 South American Championship Champions  Uruguay 1st title

Goal scorers

3 goals

• Isabelino Gradín

2 goals

• Juan Domingo Brown
• Alberto Marcovecchio

• Alberto Ohaco
• José Piendibene

1 goal

• José Laguna
• Alencar
• Demósthenes

• Arthur Friedenreich
• Telésforo Báez
• Hernando Salazar

• José Tognola

Trivia

The match between Uruguay and Chile played on July 2 was the first time in history a country fielded black players in an international tournament. Uruguay fielded Isabelino Gradin and Juan Delgado and their racial background became an issue with Chile. Chile complained before and after the match that the Uruguayans were unfairly selecting "Africans".

Notes

1.^ The match between Argentina and Uruguay played on July 16 had to be abandoned at 0–0 after only 5 minutes due to a riot within the spectators. The riot spilled over into the field and the clash finished with the wooden tribunes on fire. The match couldn't be rescheduled in the Estadio G.E.B.A., and so the match was replayed at Estadio Racing Club. The partial result of the match in Estadio G.E.B.A. was declared null and overtaken by the one in Avellaneda.

External links

• South American Championship 1916 at RSSSF