page_title: History of the Colombia national football team
section_title: 2001 Copa América
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Colombia national football team / 2000s / 2001 Copa América
caption_attribution_description: English: The Copa América trophy, given to the winner of the main national team competition in the Americas. The picture was taken at the Conmebol Museum in Luque, Paraguay.
context_page_description: The history of the Colombia national football team dates back to 1924, with the founding of the Colombian Football Federation. The Colombia national football team has had five entries in the tournament World Cup from 1962 onwards. Colombia hosted the 2001 Copa América, in which they were champions.
context_section_description: Colombia's exit at France '98 marked the end of an era, as many expected, but one last moment of glory came at Copa América 2001.
  The Copa América in 2001 was held in Colombia, from 11 to 29 July. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Prior to the tournament, three meetings were held by CONMEBOL authorities who were concerned about potential security issues in Colombia, for what Venezuela offered to host the competition. At the last minute, CONMEBOL decided to return the organization to Colombia, and the tournament was held on schedule. Complaining for the sudden decision, and claiming that Argentine players had received death threats from terrorist groups, the Argentine Football Association decided to withdraw from the competition. Because Canada and Argentina withdrew, on July 6 and July 10 respectively, Honduras and Costa Rica were invited. There were no terrorist incidents within the competition. Colombia was placed in Group A with Venezuela, Chile, and Ecuador, and they finished on top of the group with nine points.
  Group stage:
  Quarter-Finals:
  2001-07-23
  19:45
  Estadio Centenario, Armenia
  Referee: Gilberto Alcalá (Mexico)
  Semi-Finals:
  2001-07-26
  19:45
  Estadio Palogrande, Manizales
  Referee: Mario Sánchez (Chile)
  Final:
  2001-07-29
  16:30
  Estadio El Campín, Bogotá
  Referee: Ubaldo Aquino (Paraguay)
  Hosts Colombia won their first Copa América title by beating Mexico in Bogotá. Their captain Iván Córdoba scored the decisive goal early in the second half with a header from a free kick. It was a fairytale success for Colombia after the decision to go ahead with the tournament after it had initially been cancelled. Even the fact that Argentina, regarded by most observers as the strongest side in the region, elected not to take part and that most countries fielded weakened teams failed to dampen the celebrations in Bogotá. It was also noted the following year that Brazil was then considered to be the strongest in the region at the time following their 2002 FIFA World Cup victory, thus making the event "legitimate". This is also credited to the fact that Argentina failed to make it out of the group stage at the 2002 World Cup.
caption: Colombia won the 2001 edition of the Copa America while setting a historical new record.
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