5 players who won Copa America Player of the Tournament without lifting the trophy

James-Rodriguez

It’s a rare occurrence, but the best player at a tournament isn’t always rewarded with the fairytale ending of carrying their team to the top of the mountain.

The Player of the Tournament award exists for that very reason – to ensure the best player gets their flowers regardless of which nation wins the tournament – but more often than not that individual award goes home with a tournament winner.

That’s not always the case though and we’ve looked at five players who won the Copa America MVP award, despite not winning the competition as a whole.

James Rodriguez (2024)

He was so close to the perfect, storybook ending. So painfully close.

Enjoying a quiet career renaissance in Brazil after a tough end to his career at the top level in Europe, Rodriguez rolled back the years in tremendous fashion at the 2024 Copa America with one of the greatest individual campaigns the tournament has seen in a long time, carrying a brilliant Colombia side to their first final since winning it all in 2001.

One goal, four Player of the Match awards and a record six assists – the most in a single Copa America tournament. James rolled back the years and we were seriously entertained.

Lionel Messi (2015)

He’s now won back-to-back Copa America trophies, but before recent successes, Messi’s international career with Argentina was looking rather barren and he was walking a similar path to Rodriguez.

The second of three consecutive final defeats with Argentina, a year on from heartbreak at the 2014 World Cup, the GOAT famously bagged a hat-trick of assists in the semi-final against Paraguay in an electric individual tournament, that painfully ended with La Albiceleste losing on penalties to Chile.

Amado Guevara (2001)

The Honduran midfielder only spent one season of his career in Europe, but enjoyed two separate stints in Major League Soccer and was capped an insane 138 times for Honduras between 1994 and 2010.

One of Guevara’s fines hours was the 2001 Copa America held in Colombia, carrying the surprise entrants all the way to a third-place finish and being named Player of the Tournament, despite only being entered after the tournament started due to Argentina dropping out.

He was in midfield as they masterminded a shock 2-0 victory over Brazil to reach the semi-final. Genuine fairytale stuff.

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Ruben Sosa (1989)

Famous for his winner against Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey in 1986, Sosa enjoyed a fantastic career for club and country, turning out for Lazio, Inter and Borussia Dortmund after his spell at Real Zaragoza, while also being capped 46 times by Uruguay.

Sosa was a part of the Uruguay squad that won the Copa America in 1987. They came mightily close to defending their title two years later, losing 1-0 in the final against Brazil thanks to a goal from Romario.

Despite losing, Sosa still won the tournament’s MVP award for a string of impressive performances, scoring a brace against Argentina to help them into the final.

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Carlos Valderrama (1987)

As Sosa and Uruguay won in ’87, it was Valderrama who was named Player of the Tournament with Colombia finishing third.

Scoring the opening goal of Colombia’s tournament and donning the armband for them throughout, Valderrama’s performances were impressive and set the tone for an iconic career, despite him having only been involved with the senior side for two years at that point.

That was the closest El Pibe got to an international honour with his nation, with Colombia failing to ever make it deep into the World Cup throughout the 1990s.