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The 2024 Copa América ended with Argentina defending the title they won three years ago, beating Colombia in the final in Miami. That victory made them the most successful side in the competition's history, making them one clear of Uruguay, with whom they had previously tied with 15 wins.
Whilst some of their players had tournaments to remember, there were also some representing other nations who stood out during their time in the USA. Lionel Messi, for once, was not one of them. The Argentine captain, who may have been appearing in his last major international tournament, was not at his usual sparkling best. He limped off in the final with an ankle injury.
Here are five of the best performers during the tournament.
Colombia's James Rodriguez was named Player of the Tournament despite his side losing in the final.
He set a new record for assists at a single Copa América, providing six in all, surpassing the previous record set by Lionel Messi three years ago. He also scored a goal in the rout of Panama in the quarter-finals (no other player in the USA managed more than two assists).
Rodriguez is the second Colombian to win the award after Carlos Valderrama in 1987.
For the 33-year-old, it was a case of rolling back the years.
He was one of the breakout stars of the 2014 World Cup, earning him a big-money move to Real Madrid. At the time, only three players had been transferred for more in the history of the sport.
Although he impressed at first in Spain, his game began to suffer when Real started to play a more pragmatic football style. The same thing happened when he was sent on loan to Bayern Munich, which was an initial success before a change of coach saw the German side adopt a playing style not suited to him.
For the attacking midfielder, it was the start of a period of decline, with spells in the Premier League with Everton, Saudi Arabia, and Greece all indicative of a player in decline.
He was not even part of the Colombia squad for the last Copa América in 2021.
However, a return to South American football with São Paolo in Brazil allowed him to remind the world of his talent, although there, too, he has struggled for game time. This may have helped put him back in the shop window again.
During the tournament, he distinguished himself with his off-the-ball movement and positioning. Although he lost a yard of pace, his vision remained intact, helping him make probing passes.
For the Argentina goalkeeper, Emi Martínez, this was another strong tournament. He only conceded one goal in the course of it, a last-minute equalizer to Ecuador.
And that match also allowed him to demonstrate, once more, that when it comes to saving penalties, Martínez is the undisputed master.
On that occasion, he needed to be because Lionel Messi's miss – he struck the crossbar with his effort – had opened the door for Ecuador.
However, not for the first time, Martínez bailed his country out of a hole by saving the first two penalties that he saved, enabling Argentina to progress through to the semi-final eventually.
He also lived up to his reputation for gamesmanship, helping to break up the concentration of the penalty takers with a series of delaying tactics and then celebrating wildly in front of the Ecuadorean fans at the end.
Martínez also proved to be a solid presence in the final itself, saving four shots and handling any crosses that came into his box well.
This is the same keeper who came up trumps for Argentina in the World Cup final, which they won on penalties after a shoot-out and was subsequently named the best in the world by FIFA.
That is despite not making his full international debut until three years ago. During that time, he has won two Copa Américas and the World Cup. Not bad for somebody who spent nearly nine years at Arsenal as an understudy.
Although Lautaro Martínez is regularly regarded as one of the best strikers in the world—he has scored 25 goals or more for Serie A's Inter Milan in each of the past three seasons—he has struggled to translate that form into Argentine national time.
Although he was part of the team that won the World Cup two years ago, he lost his place in the starting XI to Julián Álvarez and never regained it.
Again, the 26-year-old was mainly restricted to the role of an impact substitute, but although he was only on the field for four hours during the tournament, he made the most of it and finished as the top scorer with five goals, four of which came in the group stage.
His fifth proved to be the most important of all. Introduced as a substitute again in extra time, he was sent free in the inside right channel and beat Camilo Vargas between the sticks with the match's only goal.
Real Madrid central midfielder Federico Valverde captained a Uruguay side that eventually finished third, with Colombia ending their hopes of reaching the final. However, tasked with implementing his manager Marcelo Bielsa's demanding instructions, he did all that was asked of him, offering defensive intensity at one end and accurate forward passing at the other.
At 25, he is still relatively young, but he should remain a figure for the national team for years to come, overseeing a transition from one era of players to another.
Valverde also deserves some praise for his attempts to control his team-mates when events threatened to spill out of control after their semi-final with Colombia. With drunken fans surrounding the Uruguay families sitting in the stands, Darwin Núňez and several other players climbed into the stands and became involved in heated altercations. Valverde helped defuse some of the tension.
Venezuela was one of the surprise teams of the tournament, winning all their group games for the first time in their history. Although they subsequently lost their quarter-final to Canada in penalties, they can take a great deal of encouragement from that into their World Cup qualifying campaign.
One player who played a big part in that success was striker Salomón Rondon, whom English football fans may remember from his time with West Bromwich Albion, Newcastle United, and later Everton.
Now 34, he is currently with Mexican club Pachuca, whom he helped win the CONCACAF Champions Cup earlier this year.
Rondon was also named the best striker in Liga MX and showed some of that during the tournament. He scored in two matches and provided an assist in another. He also scored one of the goals of the tournament in that quarter-final tie with Canada, lobbing the goalkeeper from the best part of 35 yards.
Now Venezuela's all-time top scorer, he has been capped by them 108 times.
Different from many South American countries, where football is almost a religion, baseball is the most popular sport in Venezuela, which may explain why they are the only South American country never to have qualified for a World Cup.
However, they have an excellent chance of ending that record in 2026, and Rondon may have a large part to play if they are to return to America in two years.
