It's been quite a year for international soccer tournaments. The Women's World Cup is currently underway in Canada, the Africa Cup of Nations ended with a nerve-shredding penalty shoot-out and the AFC Asian Cup saw Australia triumph on home soil.
And it's not over yet as the 2015 Copa America kicks off in Chile this Thursday where the likes of Lionel Messi, Alexis Sanchez and Neymar will look to get their hands on a trophy won by Luis Suarez and Uruguay four years ago.
Next year there will be a special centenary competition in the United States, but in the 99 years since the competition began, it's built up it's own long tradition and history.
Winners
That victory for Uruguay in 2011 means they hold the record for most Copa America titles with 15, just one ahead of neighbours Argentina, who won the trophy three times in a row in the 1940s - a great era for Argentine football which unfortunately did not coincide with a World Cup in the immediate post-World War II period.
Brazil might have won the most World Cups, but for now they are'only' on eight Copa Americas, although half of those victories have come since 1997.
Overall, only seven of the 10 countries in South America have won the trophy, with Venezuela, current hosts Chile and Ecuador never having won it before.
Uruguay celebrate after beating Paraguay in the 2011 final (AP Photo/Eduardo Di Baia, File)
Structure
In the early years, the competition was often an annual competition, although it occasionally was biennial as well.
Indeed, in 1959, two championships were held in the same year.
However, since it was rebranded as the Copa America from its previous title of South American Championship in the 1970s, it has flitted between a biennial or four-year format, although the current four-year pattern will be broken by the special centenary competition in 2016.
Since 1993, the organisers have also invited countries from outside South America including Mexico, Japan and the United States.
The Mexicans have made the biggest impact as invitees, finishing second twice and third on three further occasions.
This year, the two invitees are the aforementioned Mexico and Jamaica, making their way into an opening stage made up of three groups of four teams.
The top two in each group automatically qualify for the quarter finals, with the two best third placed teams joining them in the knockout rounds.
And some classic moments ...
You can never knock a good bicycle kick, especially if it happens in a match of major importance.
This goal from Peru's Juan Carlos Oblitas against regional rivals Chile in the 1975 tournament is a case in point:
You might remember Bebeto from such classic World Cup moments as the baby-rocking celebration from the 1994 World Cup, but he did score this excellent acrobatic goal in the 1989 Copa America which Brazil won on home soil:
Serie A legend with Fiorentina and Roma, Gabriel Batistuta is fifth on the all-time list of Copa America goalscorers and here's Batigol's collection:
In 1999, Brazil won the tournament with Ronaldo and Rivaldo scoring in the final. Memorably, ex-Fenebahce attacking midfielder Alex scored this blockbuster against Mexico in the group stage:
Javier Mascherano scored this beauty for Argentina in 2007 versus Paraguay:
