By Humberto Viera
Jun 23, 2024, 2:38 PM EDT
While Lionel Messi (or Cristiano Ronaldo in other cases) is often considered the undisputed king of football records, there is one statistic in which he is not even among the top 5: the number of goals in the Copa América.
Throughout the history of this tournament, which has been played 47 times for more than a century, hundreds of the best players on the continent have participated, including Messi, who is currently in eighth place in the table. scorers.
However, a select group of footballers has stood out above the rest thanks to their scoring ability in one of the oldest football competitions in the world.
Who are the top scorers in the Copa América?
According to the newspaper AS, the throne of top scorer in the Copa América is shared by two legends: the Argentine Norberto Méndez and the Brazilian Zizinho, both with 17 goals each.
A Huracán and Racing idol in the 1940s and 1950s, Méndez reached his record in three tournaments (1945, 1946 and 1947), winning all three.
For his part, Zizinho achieved the feat in six editions (1942, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1953 and 1957), playing a total of 33 games and lifting the trophy in 1949.
Completing the top 5 are Severino Varela (Uruguay) and Teodoro Fernández (Peru), both with 15 goals. They are followed, with 14 points each, by the Chilean Eduardo Vargas, the Peruvian Paolo Guerrero and the Uruguayan Héctor Scarone.
List of scorers:
- Norberto Méndez – 17 goals
- Zizinho – 17 goals
- Severino Varela – 15 goals
- Teodoro Fernández – 15 goals
- Eduardo Vargas – 14 goals
- Héctor Scarone (Uruguay) – 14 goals
- Paolo Guerrero – 14 goals
- Lionel Messi – 13 goals
- Batistuta – 13 goals
Keep reading:
–“We want to demonstrate the level”: Marcelo Bielsa is committed to confirming Uruguay’s good moment
–Mexico beat Jamaica with a great goal from Gerardo Arteaga and added three in the Copa América
–Concacaf investigates racist acts against Moise Bombito after giving a harsh tackle to Lionel Messi