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| Organizing body | CONMEBOL |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002; 23 years ago (2002) |
| Region | South America |
| Number of teams | 56 (from 10 associations) |
| Qualifier for | Recopa Sudamericana Copa Libertadores UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge |
| Related competitions | Copa Libertadores (1st tier) |
| Current champion(s) |  Racing (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) | |
| Television broadcasters | List of broadcasters |
| Website | conmebolsudamericana |
 2025 Copa Sudamericana | |
TheCONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known asCopa Sudamericana (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈkopasuðameɾiˈkana];Portuguese:Copa Sul-Americana[ˈkɔpɐˈsulɐmeɾiˈkɐnɐ]), is an annual international clubfootball competition organized byCONMEBOL, thegoverning body of football in South America, since 2002.[1] It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American football.CONCACAF clubs were invited between 2004 and 2008.[2] The CONMEBOL Sudamericana began in 2002, replacing the separate competitionsCopa Merconorte andCopa Mercosur (that had replacedCopa CONMEBOL) by a single competition.[1][2] Since its introduction, the competition has been a pure elimination tournament with the number of rounds and teams varying from year to year.
The CONMEBOL Sudamericana is considered a merger of defunct tournaments such as the Copa CONMEBOL, Copa Mercosur and Copa Merconorte.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The winner of the Copa Sudamericana becomes eligible to play in theRecopa Sudamericana, the South Americansupercup.[10] They gain entry to the next edition of theCopa Libertadores, South America's premier club competition, and also contest theUEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge, afriendly cup against the winners of theUEFA Europa League. Previously they also competed in theJ.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship against the winner of theJapanese League Cup.
The reigning champion of the competition is Argentine clubRacing, who defeated Brazilian clubCruzeiro in themost recent final.
Argentine clubs have accumulated the most victories with ten while containing the largest number of winning teams, with eight clubs. The cup has been won by 18 clubs. Argentine clubsBoca Juniors andIndependiente as well as Brazilian clubAthletico Paranaense and Ecuadorian clubsIndependiente del Valle andLDU Quito are the most successful clubs in the competition's history, having won the tournament twice, with Boca Juniors being the only one to achieve victories back-to-back, in 2004 and 2005.
In 1992, theCopa CONMEBOL was an international football tournament created for South American clubs that did not qualify for the Copa Libertadores andSupercopa Sudamericana.[11] This tournament was discontinued in 1999 and replaced by theCopa Merconorte andCopa Mercosur. These tournaments started in 1998 but were discontinued in 2001.[12][13] A Pan-American club cup competition was intended, under the name of Copa Pan-Americana, but instead, the Copa Sudamericana was introduced in 2002 as asingle-elimination tournament with the reigningCopa Mercosur champion,San Lorenzo.[14]
Until 2016 the tournament comprised 47 teams in a knockout format, with the Argentine and Brazilian teams getting byes to the second round and the defending champions entering the competition in the round of 16.[15] Starting from the2017 edition, the tournament implemented the following format changes:[16][17][18][19]
The competition's format was further altered ahead of the2021 edition, in which a group stage was introduced replacing the second stage and the six qualifiers from Argentina and Brazil were given byes to that stage, with the teams from the remaining associations being drawn against a team from their same country in the first stage, ensuring that at least two teams from each association would take part in the group stage. The competition was further expanded to include all four teams eliminated from the Copa Libertadores third stage, which would also enter the group stage, while the eight third-placed teams from the Copa Libertadores group stage would enter the round of 16.[21][22] Two years later, the format for the first stage of the tournament was changed from double-legged ties to single-match ones and a knockout round prior to the round of 16 was introduced, in which the eight teams transferred from the Copa Libertadores group stage would play against the Copa Sudamericana group runners-up with the winners joining the group winners in the following stage of the competition.[23]
The tournament shares its name with the trophy, also called theCopa Sudamericana or simplyla Sudamericana, which is awarded to the Copa Sudamericana winner.[24]
La Otra Mitad de La Gloria (The other half of glory) is a promotionalSpanishphrase used in the context of winning or attempting to win the Copa Sudamericana.[25] It is a term widely used by Spanish-speaking media. The tournament itself has become highly regarded among its participants since its inception. In 2004, Cienciano's conquest of the trophy ignited a party across Peru.[26] The Mexican football federation regards Pachuca's victory in 2006 as the most important title won by any Mexican club.[27]
Like the Copa Libertadores, the Copa Sudamericana was sponsored by a group of multinational corporations. Like the premier South American club football tournament forementioned, the competition used a single, main sponsor. The first major sponsor wasNissan Motors, who signed an 8-year contract with CONMEBOL in 2003.[citation needed]
Individual clubs may wear jerseys with advertising, even if such sponsors conflict with those of the Copa Sudamericana.[28]
As of 2024, the sponsors of Copa Sudamericana are:
Official Sponsors
Official Partners
Official Licensee
German companyPuma supplies the official match ball from 2024, as they do for all other CONMEBOL competitions.[39] This partnership ended CONMEBOL's 20-year tenure withNike.
Puma Cumbre is the official match ball of the 2024 edition of both Copa Sudamericana andCopa Libertadores.
For the2023 Copa Sudamericana, clubs playing their first stage match at home receiveUS$225,000, while teams that play their first stage match away receive US$250,000. Clubs qualifying for the group stage are awarded US$900,000, earning US$100,000 per match won in that stage.[42] Those amounts are derived from television rights and stadium advertising.[42] In addition to those amounts, CONMEBOL will pay US$500,000 to the clubs reaching the knockout round play-offs, US$550,000 to those advancing to the round of 16, US$600,000 for reaching the quarter-finals, US$800,000 for reaching the semi-finals, US$2,000,000 to the runners-up and US$5,000,000 to the winners.[42]
Starting from 2019, the CONMEBOLLibertadores and Sudamericana broadcast packages were separated, andDirecTV through its sports channelDSports (Latin America excluding Brazil) andDAZN (Brazil) took over the Copa andRecopa Sudamericana coverage from the previous broadcaster,Fox Sports (Latin America), in a deal until 2022.[43][44]RedeTV! (Brazil) would also broadcast the tournament.[45] On 12 May 2022, CONMEBOL announced the renewal of the agreement with DirecTV for the 2023–2026 cycle, whilst the rights for Brazil were awarded toSBT,ESPN, andParamount, withOneFootball being awarded rights to broadcast highlights in Brazil as well as the rest of Latin America.[46]
Claudio Morel Rodríguez is the only player to have won three Copa Sudamericana winners' medals.[47]
As of the end of the 2014 tournament, LDU Quito and São Paulo have played most games in the tournament (50).[48]
| Club | Titles | Runners-up | Seasons won | Seasons runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 LDU Quito | 2 | 1 | 2009,2023 | 2011 |
| Boca Juniors | 2 | — | 2004,2005 | — |
| Independiente | 2 | — | 2010,2017 | — |
 Athletico Paranaense | 2 | — | 2018,2021 | — |
| Independiente del Valle | 2 | — | 2019,2022 | — |
| São Paulo | 1 | 1 | 2012 | 2022 |
| Lanús | 1 | 1 | 2013 | 2020 |
| River Plate | 1 | 1 | 2014 | 2003 |
| San Lorenzo | 1 | — | 2002 | — |
 Cienciano | 1 | — | 2003 | — |
 Pachuca | 1 | — | 2006 | — |
| Arsenal | 1 | — | 2007 | — |
| Internacional | 1 | — | 2008 | — |
 Universidad de Chile | 1 | — | 2011 | — |
 Santa Fe | 1 | — | 2015 | — |
| Chapecoense | 1 | — | 2016 | — |
| Defensa y Justicia | 1 | — | 2020 | — |
| Racing | 1 | — | 2024 | — |
| Atlético Nacional | 0 | 3 | — | 2002,2014,2016 |
 Bolívar | 0 | 1 | — | 2004 |
| UNAM | 0 | 1 | — | 2005 |
| Colo-Colo | 0 | 1 | — | 2006 |
| América | 0 | 1 | — | 2007 |
| Estudiantes | 0 | 1 | — | 2008 |
| Fluminense | 0 | 1 | — | 2009 |
| Goiás | 0 | 1 | — | 2010 |
| Tigre | 0 | 1 | — | 2012 |
| Ponte Preta | 0 | 1 | — | 2013 |
| Huracán | 0 | 1 | — | 2015 |
| Flamengo | 0 | 1 | — | 2017 |
| Junior | 0 | 1 | — | 2018 |
| Colón | 0 | 1 | — | 2019 |
| Red Bull Bragantino | 0 | 1 | — | 2021 |
| Fortaleza | 0 | 1 | — | 2023 |
| Cruzeiro | 0 | 1 | — | 2024 |
| Nation | Titles | Runners-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 10 | 6 | 16 |
| Brazil | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| Ecuador | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Colombia | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Mexico | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Chile | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Peru | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bolivia | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Costa Rica | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Honduras | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Paraguay | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 United States | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Uruguay | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source:[49]
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See also:International women's club football | |||||||||
