South America’s soccer body, CONMEBOL, has partnered with the non-fungible token (NFT) platform Ethernity to celebrate the Copa America 2021 Final. The match took place over the weekend between soccer rivals Argentina and Brazil, and Argentina was crowned champion.

This year’s tournament was no easy feat. The original host countries, Argentina and Colombia, decided they would no longer stage the event a little over two weeks before kick-off due to the Covid-19 situation on the continent and ongoing protests in Colombia. Brazil’s government stepped in to host the tournament with 13 days’ notice amid backlash from the population and the players themselves. 

The games had no spectators and many sponsors such as Mastercad and Ambev withdrew at the last minute. 

Putting aside the debate over whether a country with over 500,000 Covid-19 related deaths and counting should have hosted the tournament at all, there is reason to celebrate its conclusion. Copa America averaged 980,000 views during the group stage on Univision’s network alone, while ESPN’s Euro 2020 coverage averaged 961,000 views at the same stage. 

This is Argentina’s first win at a major tournament in 28 years. 

The Copa America 2021 Final Collection NFTs feature 75 editions each of the Argentinian and Brazilian teams’ digital collectibles. Both editions are selling for 38 ERN (equivalent to $234 as of writing) and there are still 19 copies available of the Argentinian edition, and 34 copies of the Brazilian one. There were also ten editions of an NFT of the Argentinian team raising the cup, which sold out for 152 ERN ($937) each.

The collection also has two single edition NFTs. One is the Goleador Award, awarded to Messi, which sold for 2300 ETH ($4,570). The second is the NFT of the Copa America 2021 Trophy. Its auction price is currently 1,100 ETH ($2,185). 

Ethernity runs on the Ethereum Network and describes itself as a community-oriented platform, donating part of the revenue to charitable causes. It recently launched an NFT collection of legendary soccer player Pelé, where 90% of the proceeds went towards the Pelé Foundation, which aims to educate children living in poverty. 

Meanwhile, the Brazilian Football Federation signed a deal with Bitci to launch NFTs and fan tokens. During the Euro 2020 tournament, Sorare signed deals with the French, Belgium, and German national teams.