Argentina secured a first senior trophy since the 1993 edition of the same tournament,[5] also equalling Uruguay's overall record of Copa América titles.

[8] This would move the tournament in line with the UEFA European Championship, which is also held in even years with a 2020 edition taking place.

[9] On 18 September 2018, plans for a calendar change were confirmed by CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez after submitting an official request to FIFA.

[10] On 26 October 2018 at the FIFA Council meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, the request was approved for the Copa América to take place in even years, starting with the 2020 edition.

[15] On 20 May 2021, due to security concerns amid protests against the government of President Iván Duque Márquez, Colombia was dropped as co-host of the tournament.

FIFA announced that the first two rounds of the South American qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, due to take place in March, were postponed,[17] while CONMEBOL temporarily suspended the Copa Libertadores.

[18] On 17 March 2020, CONMEBOL announced that the Copa América would be postponed to the following year, taking place from 11 June to 11 July 2021, in conjunction with UEFA and IOC decision to also postpone UEFA Euro 2020 and 2020 Summer Olympics to 2021, in order to protect the health and safety of the teams, media, visitors and host cities.

As a result, the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, which was due to take place in June and July 2020, was rescheduled to 2021.

[19] On 22 February 2021, two invited guest teams Australia and Qatar pulled out of tournament, due to their commitments for the second round of 2022 FIFA World Cup Asian qualification.

[4] All matches in the tournament were held behind closed doors,[2][24] except the final, where 10% of Maracanã Stadium's capacity was allowed for guests with a negative COVID-19 test before entering.

[29] The Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha hosted the opening match on 13 June,[28] and the final was held at the Estadio do Maracanã on 10 July.

[36] In June 2019, the CONMEBOL Council officially approved the participation of Australia and Qatar as the two invited teams, who were the previous two winners of the AFC Asian Cup.

[48] On 5 June 2021, Uruguayan video assistant referees Leodán González and Daniel Fedorczuk were replaced by Andrés Cunha, also from Uruguay.

[49] Nicolás Gallo and Miguel Roldán had previously been suspended indefinitely as a result of their performance in the match between Uruguay and Paraguay valid for the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers.

[61] Emiliano Martínez Mauricio Isla Cristian Romero Marquinhos Pervis Estupiñán Rodrigo De Paul Casemiro Yoshimar Yotún Lionel Messi Neymar Luis Díaz Pibe, a brown dog, was selected as the official mascot for the tournament, making it the 14th officially selected mascot in Copa América history.