The Copa América is South America's major tournament in senior men's football and determines the continental champion. Until 1967, the tournament was known as South American Championship. It is the oldest continental championship in the world.
Costa Rica are not members of the South American football confederation CONMEBOL. But because CONMEBOL only has ten member associations, guest nations have regularly been invited since 1993. Costa Rica have competed in the Copa América five times, and reached the quarter-finals twice.
On four occasions, they have been directly invited. The Copa América Centenario in 2016 was a collaboration of the CONCACAF and the CONMEBOL and Costa Rica qualified by virtue of winning the 2014 Copa Centroamericana. They again qualified for the 2024 tournament via the qualifying play-offs.
In their home confederation, the North American CONCACAF, Costa Rica have won three titles (1963, 1969 and 1989).
| Copa América record | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | |
| 1997 | Group stage | 10th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |
 2001 | Quarter-finals | 5th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | |
 2004 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | |
 2011 | Group stage | 9th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
 2016 | Group stage | 10th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
| 2024 | Group stage | 10th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| Total | Quarter-finals | 6/13 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 35 | |
| Tournament | width=110 | Round | width=150 | Opponent | width=60 | Score | width=200 | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1997 | Group stage | align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 0–5 | Santa Cruz | ||||
| align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 1–4 | |||||||
| align=center bgcolor="#ffffbb" | 1–1 | |||||||
| 2001 | Group stage | align=center bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 1–0 | Medellín | ||||
| align=center bgcolor="#ffffbb" | 1–1 | |||||||
| align=center bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 4–0 | |||||||
| Quarter-finals | align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 1–2 | Armenia | |||||
| 2004 | Group stage | align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 0–1 | Arequipa | ||||
| align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 1–4 | |||||||
| align=center bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 2–1 | Tacna | ||||||
| Quarter-finals | align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 0–2 | Trujillo | |||||
| 2011 | Group stage | align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 0–1 | Jujuy | ||||
| align=center bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 2–0 | |||||||
| align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 0–3 | Córdoba | ||||||
| 2016 | Group stage | align=center bgcolor="#ffffbb" | 0–0 | Orlando | ||||
| align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 0–4 | Chicago | ||||||
| align=center bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 3–2 | Houston | ||||||
| 2024 | Group stage | align=center bgcolor="#ffffbb" | 0–0 | Inglewood | ||||
| align=center bgcolor="#ffbbbb" | 0–3 | Glendale | ||||||
| align=center bgcolor="#bbffbb" | 2–1 | Austin |
| Rank | Player | Matches | Tournaments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rónald Gómez | 9 | 1997, 2001 and 2004 | |
| Joel Campbell | 9 | 2011, 2016 and 2024 | ||
| 3 | Steven Bryce | 8 | 2001 and 2004 | |
| Walter Centeno | 8 | 2001 and 2004 | ||
| Luis Marín | 8 | 2001 and 2004 | ||
| Francisco Calvo | 8 | 2011, 2016 and 2024 | ||
| 7 | Mauricio Solís | 7 | 1997 and 2001 | |
| Mauricio Wright | 7 | 1997 and 2004 | ||
| 9 | Jhonny Acosta | 6 | 2011 and 2016 | |
| 10 | Six players | 5 |
| Rank | Player | Goals | Tournaments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paulo Wanchope | 5 | 2001 |
| 2 | Mauricio Wright | 2 | 1997 and 2004 |
| 3 | Hernán Medford | 1 | 1997 |
| Steven Bryce | 1 | 2001 | |
| Rolando Fonseca | 1 | 2001 | |
| Andy Herron | 1 | 2004 | |
| Luis Marín | 1 | 2004 | |
| Joel Campbell | 1 | 2011 | |
| Josué Martínez | 1 | 2011 | |
| Celso Borges | 1 | 2016 | |
| Johan Venegas | 1 | 2016 | |
| Josimar Alcócer | 1 | 2024 | |
| Francisco Calvo | 1 | 2024 |