1959 South American Championship (Argentina)

The South American Championship 1959 was a football tournament held in Argentina, and won by Argentina with Brazil as runner-up. Colombia and Ecuador withdrew from the tournament. Pelé from Brazil was named best player of the tournament and was the top scorer with 8 goals.

Goalscorers
With eight goals, Pelé of Brazil is the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 86 goals were scored by 36 different players, with only one of them credited as own goal.


 * 8 goals
 * 🇧🇷 Pelé
 * 6 goals
 * José Aveiro
 * 5 goals
 * 🇧🇷 Paulo Valentim
 * 🇵🇪 Miguel Angel Loayza
 * 4 goals
 * 🇦🇷 Rubén Héctor Sosa
 * 3 goals


 * 🇦🇷 Juan José Pizzuti
 * 🇦🇷 Oreste Corbatta
 * 🇦🇷 Raúl Belén
 * 🇧🇷 Didi
 * Cayetano Ré
 * Héctor Demarco
 * José Sasía
 * Vladas Douksas


 * 2 goals


 * 🇦🇷 Pedro Eugenio Callá
 * 🇦🇷 Pedro Waldemar Manfredini
 * 🇧🇴 Máximo Alcócer
 * Juan Soto Mura
 * Leonel Sánchez
 * Mario Soto
 * Silvio Parodi
 * 🇵🇪 Juan Joya
 * 🇵🇪 Juan Seminario
 * Carlos Borges
 * Guillermo Escalada


 * 1 goal


 * 🇦🇷 Vladislao Cap
 * 🇧🇴 Ausberto García
 * 🇧🇴 Ricardo Alcón
 * 🇧🇷 Chinesinho
 * Luis Hernán Álvarez
 * Mario Moreno
 * Tovar
 * Ildefonso Sanabria
 * 🇵🇪 Óscar Gómez Sánchez
 * Domingo Pérez
 * Víctor Guaglianone


 * Own goal
 * 🇵🇪 Víctor Benítez (playing against Argentina)

Controversy
Originally, the 1959 Copa America was scheduled to be hosted by Ecuador. However, due to financial difficulties and infrastructure challenges, Ecuador withdrew as the host nation just a few months before the tournament was set to begin. This sudden withdrawal left CONMEBOL in a difficult situation to find a replacement host at such short notice.

In response to Ecuador's withdrawal, Argentina volunteered to step in as the new host for the tournament. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) had the necessary resources and infrastructure to organize the event. Consequently, Argentina was granted the hosting rights, and the tournament was scheduled to take place in Buenos Aires.

However, a disagreement arose among some South American nations regarding the legitimacy of Argentina being granted the hosting rights without a proper bidding process. A group of countries, including Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile, refused to participate in the tournament hosted by Argentina and organized their own competition called the "Copa del Atlántico",  in response.

Meanwhile, Argentina went ahead with its plans and organized the Copa America as scheduled, inviting other CONMEBOL member nations to participate. The tournament took place from March 7 to April 4, 1959, and was won by Argentina.

After the initial Copa America tournament held in Argentina from March to April 1959, there was indeed a second Copa America held in Ecuador later that year. The second tournament took place in Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador, from December 5 to 25, 1959.

The decision to hold a second Copa America in Ecuador was made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Eloy Alfaro, a prominent Ecuadorian political figure. The tournament was officially named the "Copa del Centenario de la Batalla de Quito" (Centenary Cup of the Battle of Quito) to honor this occasion. Uruguay emerged as champions, securing their 10th title in the tournament's history.