Peru at the Copa América

Peru's highest margin of victory at a Copa América is four goals, which they have managed a number of times: They won 4–0 against Ecuador in 1941 and 1949 and Colombia in 1949, and 5–1 against Colombia in 1947 and Venezuela in 1991. Peru's biggest defeat was a 0–7 loss against Brazil in the 1997 semi-final.

Copa América matches (by team)
Opponent	Wins	Draws	Losses	Total	Goals Scored	Goals Conceded
Argentina	3	2	12	17	19	40
Bolivia	8	4	3	15	25	16
Brazil	3	3	11	17	13	34
Chile	6	6	8	20	28	27
Colombia	7	7	2	16	26	13
Ecuador	8	3	1	12	28	12
Haiti	1	0	0	1	1	0
Japan	1	0	0	1	3	2
Mexico	2	1	2	5	7	8
Paraguay	4	6	7	17	22	32
Uruguay	6	2	12	20	25	42
Venezuela	5	1	1	7	16	6
TOTAL	54	35	59	148	213	232

At this point Peru is the 7th nation to join the competition, and in 1927 the games are decided to be played there. Although only 3 teams came to the tournament, Argentina, Uruguay, and Bolivia; the participating federations decided that the 1st and 2nd places of the competition would represent South America for the Olympic Games to be played at Amsterdam in 1928. The other federations (Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay) did not participate because of economic and sport problems. Peru gained third place after only beating Bolivia.

This tournament is characterized by the Argentine and Uruguayan conflict that rooted from the 1930 World Cup. The winners here were going to once more represent South America for the Olympic Games, this time to be played at Berlin. Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay had withdrawn from the tournament. Peru's first game resulted at a 1–0 loss, with a goal scored by a Uruguayan player at the 80th minute. The second one was not much better, and Peru lost 4–1 against Argentina. The last game was won by Peru 1–0 against Chile. The tournament gave Peru the third spot, and helped it train and improve for the 1936 Summer Olympics.

This was the first international title the team won. During this time, the team had greatly improved since the World Cup and was re-assuring that dominance they had shown over Austria in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Peru won all 4 games which were against Ecuador (5–2), Chile (3–1), Paraguay (3–0), and Uruguay (2–1) in the final. It's worth the mention that in this tournament Argentina and Brazil did not participate, but that does not take down the merit of Peru's notable act. Peruvian Teodoro Fernández also was the top goal-scorer of the tournament. As an anecdote, Peru was the fourth South American team that raised the trophy (The first three being Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil).[1]

By this time, Peruvian football was recognized by good game and playful management of the ball. Several interesting players came to the national team, but the team faced several problems with the directors and the players themselves. Peru won all but two games. As such, the national team got third place. Paraguay and Brazil, the only ones who beat Peru, had to later play a last tie-breaker match.

As much as Peru did, the team was not capable to achieve another Copa América title until later years. Yet, the games played in 1953 are memorable to Peruvian football history because it was the first time Peru was able to beat Brazil (A certain something not many have been able to achieve). The goal was scored by Navarrete.[2]

This tournament had no fixed venue. For the first phase, Peru was grouped with Chile and Bolivia. After winning both games, which were played both at home and away, Peru qualified for the semifinals along with Colombia, Brazil, and Uruguay (Which were the defending champions). Perhaps unlucky for Peru, they had to face Brazil for their semifinal. At the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, Peru beat the Verdeamarela by a margin of 3 to 1 with two goals from Enrique Cassareto and one by Teófilo Cubillas. The game played back home at Lima was won by Brazil 2–0. Due to the goal difference, the winner (Which turned out being Peru) was chosen by sorting.

The final match was played against Colombia, who had beaten Uruguay. The game played at Bogotá was won by the Colombians 1 to 0. The game played at Lima was won by the Peruvians 2 to 0. Even though this meant Peru should win by the goal difference, a last game was played at the city of Caracas. With a goal at the 25th minute of the game by Hugo Sotil, Peru obtained its second international title.[3]

Peru had an acceptable participacion in this Copa América when they passed as the leaders of their group with 4 points, 1 more point than Brazil. Paraguay and Chile also were part of this group. Peru tied with Brazil 0–0, tied with Paraguay 1–1 and beat Chile 1–0. The lead scorer for Peru in this competition was José del Solar with three goals. In semifinals Peru was eliminated by Mexico 4–2.

The team was able to reach the quarterfinals of this cup and eliminated Argentina (2:1) to advanced into the semifinals. In the semifinals, Peru faced Brazil, and lost by a margin of 7 to 0 (Peru's worst result to date). For the third place spot, Peru faced Mexico. The game was won by Mexico by a goal scored at the 82nd minute of the game.

The 2004 Copa América, which they hosted, saw the team lose in the quarter-finals against Argentina. This began a wave of criticism against Peru's then coach Paulo Autuori, who boycotted the media, and his squad.[4]

Peru's campaign in the 2007 Copa América saw another futile attempt of the Peruvian squad, eliminated again in the quarter-finals by Argentina; the blame for this was mainly given to the tactics and formations of the coach Julio César Uribe, who did not call the appropriate players to the national team. After this situation, Peru replaced Uribe for José del Solar.[5]

Peru made its debut against Uruguay, with a 1-1 draw, with Paolo Guerrero scoring for Peru. A 1-0 win over Mexico came next and finally a 1-0 loss against Chile, which it suffered due to a 90th minute own goal of a corner kick, would qualify Peru to the next round. At the quarterfinals match, Peru faced Colombia. All analysts placed Colombia as the big favorites. Peru, however, managed to win 2-0 after extra time with goals from Carlos Lobatón and Juan Manuel Vargas. At the semifinals Peru lost against the eventual champion Uruguay. Peru moved on to the third place match against the other surprise of the tournament, Venezuela. Peru beat Venezuela thoroughly with a 4–1 victory. A hat-trick by Paolo Guerrero, the Peruvian star of the tournament, fueled Peru and allowed them to claim the third-place bronze medal at the Copa América. Paolo Guerrero was crowned as the top goal scorer of the tournament.