1953 South American Championship
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Peru |
| Dates | 22 February – 1 April 1953 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Venue(s) | Estadio Nacional, Lima |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Paraguay (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Brazil |
| Third place | Uruguay |
| Fourth place | Chile |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 22 |
| Goals scored | 67 (3.05 per match) |
| Top scorer |  Francisco Molina (7 goals) |
← 1949 1955 → | |
The 1953 South American Championship (Spanish: Campeonato Sudamericano 1953, Portuguese: Campeonato Sul-Americano de 1953) was the 22nd international association football championship for members of the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL). Hosted by Peru, the competition ran from 22 February – 1 April 1953 and was contested by the national teams of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
After the completion of the round-robin tournament, Brazil and Paraguay were tied level on points. With no tiebreaking criteria, a play-offs was to be organised to decide the champion. Paraguay won the play-off 3–2 to win the championships for the first time.