In 1910, the
Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) organised a tournament to mark the 100th anniversary of the
May Revolution. The
Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo was contested by the national teams of
Argentina,
Chile and
Uruguay and is considered to be a precursor to the
South American Championship. Six years later, the AFA organised a second tournament, this time to celebrate the centenary of the
Argentine Declaration of Independence. Alongside the three who had contested the Copa Centenario Revolución de Mayo,
Brazil were invited to compete and the South American Championship was born. During the competition, the four associations of the competing teams met on 9 July 1916 and founded the
Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL). Uruguay were the defending champions having won the
1926 edition after defeating Paraguay 6–1 in their final match of the competition. Uruguay were also the most successful team in the history of the competition having won the six of the first 10 editions. Brazil, Chile and Paraguay withdrew prior to the start of the competition so only four of the seven CONMEBOL members would compete. The Argentina team departed from
Retiro railway station,
Buenos Aires as they travelled
Valparaíso, Chile on their way to Peru. There, they joined the Uruguay team and boarded a ship to the port of
Callao,
Lima. They arrived in Peru after eight days. ==Format==