Overview
South America's premier club competition — 32 clubs in the group stage, and a single-match final since 2019.
The Copa Libertadores is the premier club competition in South American football. Thirty-two clubs reach the group stage after three qualifying rounds; the top two in each group advance to a two-legged knockout, and the final has been a single match at a neutral venue since 2019.
The atmosphere at Libertadores matches is unmatched in club football, and the competition's history is inseparable from the intensity of its crowds — and, at times, from its disorder: the 2018 final between Boca Juniors and River Plate had to be moved to Madrid after the Boca team bus was attacked.
Season Format
Recent Champions
Most recent first. Seasons still in progress are marked.
History
The Copa Libertadores was founded in 1960 to produce a South American champion who could meet the European Cup winner in an Intercontinental Cup. Independiente of Argentina have won it a record seven times, four of them consecutively in the 1970s.
Argentine and Uruguayan clubs dominated the early decades; Brazilian clubs have won most recent editions, a reflection of the financial gap that has opened within the continent. The competition remains the most direct route by which South American players are seen and signed by European clubs.
Governance
CONMEBOL, the South American confederation, organises the competition for its ten member associations.