# Who is the best player in Copa América history?

> The oldest continental football championship has been lit up by legends from Pelé to Maradona to Messi — the full sweep of South American genius. Who stands as the greatest Copa player ever?

*By YPB Team · Published May 22, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/who-is-the-best-player-in-copa-america-history*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Lionel Messi**
   Finally ended Argentina's Copa drought in 2021, winning Golden Boot and Golden Ball, then retained the title in 2024 — the definitive modern Copa player and arguably the greatest ever.
2. **Diego Maradona**
   Led Argentina with genius and intensity across multiple Copa América tournaments, his supernatural dribbling and vision making him the tournament's most feared presence in the 1980s.
3. **Pelé**
   Won the 1959 Copa América as a teenage prodigy and remained the symbol of Brazilian football superiority throughout one of the tournament's most celebrated golden eras.
4. **Zizinho**
   Widely regarded as Brazil's greatest Copa performer of the pre-Pelé era, a creative inside-forward who dominated South American football in the 1940s and 50s.
5. **Gabriel Batistuta**
   Argentina's legendary striker scored prolifically across multiple Copa Américas and led his nation to victories in 1991 and 1993 with ruthless, powerful finishing.
6. **Romário**
   Brazil's sharp, instinctive striker was a Copa América force throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, consistently topping the scoring charts with his predatory penalty-box genius.
7. **Ronaldo R9**
   Unstoppable in Brazil's 1997 Copa win — his pace, power, and close control made him untouchable, among the most dazzling individual Copa performances ever witnessed.
8. **Carlos Valderrama**
   Colombia's iconic playmaker with the unmistakable afro orchestrated his nation's finest Copa América performances in the early 1990s with magical passing and cool command of tempo.
9. **Ronaldinho**
   Brazil's flamboyant magician lit up multiple Copa editions with improvised skill, nutmegs, and jaw-dropping trick goals — consistently the most entertaining player on the pitch.
10. **Juan Román Riquelme**
   Argentina's mercurial number 10 was the Copa's most gifted playmaker of the 2000s, mesmerizing crowds with his languid, intelligent play and inch-perfect distribution.
11. **Alexis Sánchez**
   Led Chile to back-to-back Copa titles in 2015 and 2016, delivering decisive performances and the decisive penalty in the 2015 final shootout against Argentina.
12. **Teófilo Cubillas**
   Peru's all-time great was a creative force in Copa América throughout the 1970s, earning multiple Player of the Tournament honours with his elegant, penetrating play.
13. **Neymar**
   Brazil's star won the 2019 Copa on home soil and has been consistently electrifying in the modern tournament, his individual brilliance making him impossible to plan against.
14. **Ángel Di María**
   Scored the decisive extra-time goal in the 2021 Copa final against Brazil, delivering the most important goal in Argentina's recent football history in a tournament-defining moment.

Tags: sports, football, players, legends, south america, tournaments