Brazilians win their second title in 1922

• The Brazilian team clinched their second championship at the 1922 CONMEBOL Copa America™️ held in Rio de Janeiro.
• For the first time, five teams participated in the tournament.

The 1922 CONMEBOL Copa America™ was hosted at Manoel Schwartz Stadium, commonly known as ‘Estádio das Laranjeiras’, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium had previously served as the venue in 1919 but underwent an expansion, increasing its capacity from 18,000 to 25,000 spectators for this occasion. Originally scheduled to take place in Chile, the tournament’s location was changed due to the celebration of Brazil’s centenary of independence.

The Brazilian team won their second title in the CONMEBOL Copa America™️ edition that featured five participating teams for the first time: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, and Paraguay. Furthermore, they were the first champions to draw in the majority of their matches (3). Throughout the tournament, they only secured victories against Argentina (2-0) and Paraguay (3-0) in the tiebreaker.

In this edition, what was likely the first radio broadcast of a sporting event took place. Uruguayan Claudio Sapelli received telegraphic information about the match between Brazil and Uruguay from Rio de Janeiro and relayed it to the listeners who had gathered at the newspaper’s entrance.

The tournament’s top scorer was Argentine Julio Francia, who netted four goals. In total, 22 goals were scored in the 11 matches played, resulting in an average of 2 goals per match.

Modesto Denis, the Paraguayan goalkeeper, became one of the standout figures in the tournament. He had a long-standing career with Nacional in Paraguay, and held the record for the most appearances with the ‘Albirroja’ national team, with 32 caps.