Missing image
Copalibertadores.JPG

Copa Libertadores Logo

Missing image
Copalibertadorescopa.JPG

Libertadores Cup

The Copa Libertadores de América ("Liberators of the Americas Cup") is an international football cup competition played annually by the top clubs of South America. In recent years, top clubs from Mexico have also competed.

Contents

5 Championships by team

6 Championships by Country

Qualification

The competition is organized and run annually in a similar manner to the UEFA Champions League in Europe. The Copa Libertadores has a preliminary round in which a number of clubs, currently 12, are paired in a series of two-legged knockout ties. The six survivors join the remaining clubs in the first round, in which they are divided into groups of four. The first-round groups play in a league system, with each team playing home-and-home against each other team. The top two teams from each group are then drawn in the second round, which consists of a two-legged knockout tie. From that point, the competition proceeds with two-legged knockout ties to quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final. Between 1960 and 1979 the previous winners did not enter the competition until the semi-final stage, making it much easier to retain the cup.

In its early years, only the national champions of the major nations took part, but the vice-champions were allowed in the 1970s. The competition was later extended to 24, 32, 36, and now 38 teams. The 2005 edition will have the competitors distributed this way:

The previous year's champion
5 from Argentina
5 from Brazil
3 from Bolivia
3 from Chile
3 from Colombia
3 from Ecuador
3 from Mexico (up from 2 in 2004)
3 from Paraguay
3 from Peru
3 from Uruguay
3 from Venezuela

The lowest-ranked team from each country, plus the second lowest-ranked team from the nation of the previous year's champion, will enter the preliminary round, with the winners joining the other 26 teams in the main draw.

Rules

Note that unlike European club competitions, the Copa Libertadores historically did not use extra time or away goals to decide a tie that was level on aggregate. From 1960 to 1987, two-legged ties were decided on points, without taking goal difference into consideration. If both teams were level on points after two legs, a third match would be played at a neutral site. Goal difference would only come into play if the third match was drawn. If the third match did not produce an immediate winner, either by a clear win or by goal difference, a penalty shootout was used to determine a winner. From 1988 through 2004, ties were decided on aggregate goals, with an immediate penalty shootout if the tie was level on aggregate after full time of the second leg. Several times, the event would have had a different champion if it followed European rules. For example, the 2004 champions, Colombian club Once Caldas, would have exited the competition in the second round if the away goals rule had been used, and would also have lost the final on away goals.

For the 2005 event, CONMEBOL finally began to use the away goals rule, but still does not employ extra time. Two ties in the preliminary round were decided on away goals.

History

The first cup was competed for in 1960 and was won by Club Atlético Peñarol of Uruguay. As of 2004, 20 different teams have won the cup. The most successful club has been the Argentinian side Club Atlético Independiente, winners seven times including four in a row from 1972 to 1975.

Brazilians complain that especially in the early years the referees were often biased against the Brazilian teams and the rules were often obscure or unfair. Argentine answer to this remarking that the Brazilian teams were often uninterested in playing abroad. However, it is remarkable that Argentina and Uruguay are so superior to Brazil in Olympic and regional competitions such as the Copa América and the Copa Libertadores, while they are clearly surpassed in the most important event, the FIFA World Cup.

Over the years the competition has kept alive a healthy sport rivalry between the competing countries, especially between Brazil and Argentina, Argentina and Uruguay, Uruguay and Brazil, and Bolivia and Chile. Unfortunately episodes of violence are not rare and the pressure for players on the field is tremendous.

Since 1998, the Copa Libertadores is sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, and that is why since then the name Copa Toyota Libertadores is also used.

Champions

Year	Final			Semifinalists
Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Semifinalists
1960 Details	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	1 - 0 1 - 1 2 - 1	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia	Missing image SanLorenzoShield.GIF San Lorenzo	Missing image Millionarios.GIF Millonarios
1961 Details	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	1 - 0 1 - 1 2 - 1	Missing image Palmeiras_Symbol.png Palmeiras	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia	Missing image Independiente_santa_fe_cd.GIF Independiente de Santa Fe
1962 Details	Missing image SantosBrazilLogo.GIF Santos F.C.	1 - 2 3 - 2 3 - 0	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	Missing image Universidad_catolica_football.png Universidad Católica	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo
1963 Details	Missing image SantosBrazilLogo.GIF Santos F.C.	3 - 2 2 - 1 5 - 3	Boca Juniors	Missing image Botafogo_football.png Botafogo	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol
1964 Details	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente	0 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo	Missing image SantosBrazilLogo.GIF Santos F.C.	Missing image Colocolo.jpg Colo-Colo
1965 Details	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente	1 - 0 1 - 3 4 - 1	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	Missing image SantosBrazilLogo.GIF Santos F.C.	Boca Juniors
1966 Details	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	2 - 0 2 - 3 4 - 2	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente	Missing image Universidad_catolica_football.png Universidad Católica
1967 Details	Missing image Racing_Club_de_Avellaneda.GIF Racing Club	0 - 0 0 - 0 2 - 1	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo	Missing image Universitario_Lima_logo.gif Universitario	Missing image Times_logo_cruzeiro_grande.gif Cruzeiro
1968 Details	Missing image Estudiantes_de_La_Plata_logo.png Estudiantes L.P.	2 - 1 1 - 3 2 - 0	Missing image Palmeiras_Symbol.png Palmeiras	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	Missing image Racing_Club_de_Avellaneda.GIF Racing Club
1969 Details	Missing image Estudiantes_de_La_Plata_logo.png Estudiantes L.P.	1 - 0 2 - 0 3 - 0	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	Missing image Universidad_catolica_football.png Universidad Católica
1970 Details	Missing image Estudiantes_de_La_Plata_logo.png Estudiantes L.P.	1 - 0 0 - 0 1 - 0	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	Missing image Universidad_de_chile_football.png Universidad de Chile	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate
1971 Details	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo	1 - 0 0 - 1 2 - 0	Missing image Estudiantes_de_La_Plata_logo.png Estudiantes L.P.	Missing image Palmeiras_Symbol.png Palmeiras	Missing image Barcelona_SC_logo.gif Barcelona (Guayaquil)
1972 Details	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente	0 - 0 2 - 1 2 - 1	Missing image Universitario_Lima_logo.gif Universitario	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo	Missing image Sao_Paulo_(Soccer)_Shield.gif São Paulo
1973 Details	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente	1 - 1 0 - 0 2 - 1	Missing image Colocolo.jpg Colo-Colo	Missing image SanLorenzoShield.GIF San Lorenzo	Missing image Cerro_porteno.GIF Cerro Porteño
1974 Details	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente	1 - 2 2 - 0 1 - 0	Missing image Sao_Paulo_(Soccer)_Shield.gif São Paulo	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	Missing image Millionarios.GIF Millonarios
1975 Details	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente	0 - 1 3 - 1 2 - 0	Unión Española	Missing image Escudocentral.jpg Rosario Central	Missing image Universitario_Lima_logo.gif Universitario
1976 Details	Missing image Times_logo_cruzeiro_grande.gif Cruzeiro	4 - 1 1 - 2 3 - 2	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate	Missing image Ldu_quito.GIF LDU Quito	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente
1977 Details	Boca Juniors	1 - 0 0 - 1 0 - 0 (penalties 5-4)	Missing image Times_logo_cruzeiro_grande.gif Cruzeiro	Missing image Dep_cali2.GIF Deportivo Cali	Missing image SC_internacional.GIF Internacional (Porto Alegre)
1978 Details	Boca Juniors	0 - 0 4 - 0 4 - 0	Missing image Dep_cali2.GIF Deportivo Cali	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate	Missing image Cerro_porteno.GIF Cerro Porteño
1979 Details	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia	2 - 0 0 - 0 2 - 0	Boca Juniors	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente	Missing image Guarani4.GIF Guarani
1980 Details	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo	2 - 0 0 - 0 2 - 0	Missing image SC_internacional.GIF Internacional (Porto Alegre)	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia	Missing image America_de_Cali.GIF America de Cali
1981 Details	Missing image Flamengo_logo_football.png Flamengo	2 - 1 0 - 1 2 - 0	Missing image Cobreloa.GIF Cobreloa	Missing image Dep_cali2.GIF Deportivo Cali	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo
1982 Details	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	0 - 0 1 - 0 1 - 0	Missing image Cobreloa.GIF Cobreloa	Missing image Flamengo_logo_football.png Flamengo	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia
1983 Details	Missing image Gremio_foot_ball_porto_alegrense.gif Grêmio	1 - 1 2 - 1 3 - 2	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo	Missing image Estudiantes_de_La_Plata_logo.png Estudiantes L.P.
1984 Details	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente	1 - 0 0 - 0 1 - 0	Missing image Gremio_foot_ball_porto_alegrense.gif Grêmio	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo	Missing image Flamengo_logo_football.png Flamengo
1985 Details	Missing image Argentinos_juniors.GIF Argentinos Juniors	1 - 0 0 - 1 1 - 1 (penalties 5-4)	Missing image America_de_Cali.GIF America de Cali	Missing image El_nacional_quito.GIF El Nacional	Missing image CAIndependienteLogo.GIF Independiente
1986 Details	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate	2 - 1 1 - 0 3 - 1	Missing image America_de_Cali.GIF America de Cali	Missing image Argentinos_juniors.GIF Argentinos Juniors	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia
1987 Details	Missing image PenarolLogo.GIF Peñarol	0 - 2 2 - 1 2 - 0	Missing image America_de_Cali.GIF America de Cali	Missing image Cobreloa.GIF Cobreloa	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate
1988 Details	Missing image Escudo_ch.jpg Nacional de Montevideo	0 - 1 3 - 0 Agg: 3 - 1	Missing image NewellsOldBoysShield.GIF Newell's Old Boys	Missing image America_de_Cali.GIF America de Cali	Missing image SanLorenzoShield.GIF San Lorenzo
1989 Details	Missing image AtleticoNacionalMedellinLogo.GIF Atlético Nacional	2 - 0 0 - 2 Agg: 2 - 2 (penalties 5-4)	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia	Missing image Danubio_logo.jpg Danubio	Missing image SC_internacional.GIF Internacional (Porto Alegre)
1990 Details	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia	2 - 0 1 - 1 Agg: 3 - 1	Missing image Barcelona_SC_logo.gif Barcelona (Guayaquil)	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate	Missing image AtleticoNacionalMedellinLogo.GIF Atlético Nacional
1991 Details	Missing image Colocolo.jpg Colo-Colo	0 - 0 3 - 0 Agg: 3 - 0	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia	Missing image AtleticoNacionalMedellinLogo.GIF Atlético Nacional	Boca Juniors
1992 Details	Missing image Sao_Paulo_(Soccer)_Shield.gif São Paulo	1 - 0 0 - 1 Agg: 1 - 1 (penalties 3-2)	Missing image NewellsOldBoysShield.GIF Newell's Old Boys	Missing image America_de_Cali.GIF America de Cali	Missing image Barcelona_SC_logo.gif Barcelona (Guayaquil)
1993 Details	Missing image Sao_Paulo_(Soccer)_Shield.gif São Paulo	5 - 1 0 - 2 Agg: 5 - 3	Missing image Universidad_catolica_football.png Universidad Católica	Missing image America_de_Cali.GIF America de Cali	Missing image Cerro_porteno.GIF Cerro Porteño
1994 Details	Missing image Sarsfield.GIF Vélez Sársfield	0 - 1 1 - 0 Agg: 1 - 1 (penalties 5-3)	Missing image Sao_Paulo_(Soccer)_Shield.gif São Paulo	Missing image Junior.GIF Atlético Junior	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia
1995 Details	Missing image Gremio_foot_ball_porto_alegrense.gif Grêmio	3 - 1 1 - 1 Agg: 4 - 2	Missing image AtleticoNacionalMedellinLogo.GIF Atlético Nacional	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate	Missing image Emelec.GIF Emelec
1996 Details	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate	0 - 1 2 - 0 Agg: 2 - 1	Missing image America_de_Cali.GIF America de Cali	Missing image Gremio_foot_ball_porto_alegrense.gif Grêmio	Missing image Universidad_de_chile_football.png Universidad de Chile
1997 Details	Missing image Times_logo_cruzeiro_grande.gif Cruzeiro	2 - 0 2 - 1 Agg: 4 - 1	Missing image Sporting_Cristal_logo.gif Sporting Cristal	Missing image Colocolo.jpg Colo-Colo	Missing image Racing_Club_de_Avellaneda.GIF Racing Club
1998 Details	Missing image VascoDaGamaSoccerLogo.GIF Vasco da Gama	2 - 0 2 - 1 Agg: 4 - 1	Missing image Barcelona_SC_logo.gif Barcelona (Guayaquil)	Missing image Cerro_porteno.GIF Cerro Porteño	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate
1999 Details	Missing image Palmeiras_Symbol.png Palmeiras	0 - 1 2 - 1 Agg: 2 - 2 (penalties 4-3)	Missing image Dep_cali2.GIF Deportivo Cali	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate	Missing image Cerro_porteno.GIF Cerro Porteño
2000 Details	Boca Juniors	2 - 2 0 - 0 Agg: 2 - 2 (penalties 4-3)	Missing image Palmeiras_Symbol.png Palmeiras	Corinthians	Missing image ClubAmericaLogo.GIF Club América
2001 Details	Boca Juniors	1 - 0 0 - 1 Agg: 1 - 1 (penalties 3-1)	Missing image Cruz_Azul_logo.gif Cruz Azul	Missing image Palmeiras_Symbol.png Palmeiras	Missing image Escudocentral.jpg Rosario Central
2002 Details	Missing image Olimpia_asuncion.GIF Olimpia	0 - 1 2 - 1 Agg: 2 - 2 (penalties 4-2)	Missing image São_Caetano2.gif São Caetano	Missing image ClubAmericaLogo.GIF Club América	Missing image Gremio_foot_ball_porto_alegrense.gif Grêmio
2003 Details	Boca Juniors	2 - 0 3 - 1 Agg: 5 - 1	Missing image SantosBrazilLogo.GIF Santos F.C.	Missing image Dep_ind_medellin.GIF Independiente Medellín	Missing image America_de_Cali.GIF America de Cali
2004 Details	Missing image Once_caldas.GIF Once Caldas	0 - 0 1 - 1 Agg: 1 - 1 (penalties 2-0)	Boca Juniors	Missing image River_Plate_logo.png River Plate	Missing image Sao_Paulo_(Soccer)_Shield.gif São Paulo
2005 Details

Championships by team

7 times

Missing image
CAIndependienteLogo.GIF

Independiente (1964, 1965, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1984)

5 times

Boca Juniors (1977, 1978, 2000, 2001, and 2003)
Missing image
PenarolLogo.GIF

Peñarol (1960, 1961, 1966, 1982, and 1987)

3 times

Missing image
Estudiantes_de_La_Plata_logo.png

Estudiantes L.P. (1968, 1969, and 1970)
Missing image
Escudo_ch.jpg

Nacional (1971, 1980, and 1988)
Missing image
Olimpia_asuncion.GIF

Olimpia (1979, 1990, and 2002)

2 times

Missing image
Times_logo_cruzeiro_grande.gif

Cruzeiro (1976 and 1997)
Missing image
Gremio_foot_ball_porto_alegrense.gif

Grêmio (1983 and 1995)
Missing image
River_Plate_logo.png

River Plate (1986 and 1996)
Missing image
SantosBrazilLogo.GIF

Santos F.C. (1962 and 1963)
Missing image
Sao_Paulo_(Soccer)_Shield.gif

São Paulo (1992 and 1993)