Copa Sudamericana facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page is about the secondary, premier South American club tournament. For the competition trophy, see Copa Sudamericana (trophy).

"Sudamericana" redirects here. For the extinct mammal, see Sudamerica.

Quick facts for kids
CONMEBOL Sudamericana

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)	Boca Juniors Independiente Athletico Paranaense Independiente del Valle LDU Quito (2 titles each)
Television broadcasters	List of broadcasters

The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, often called Copa Sudamericana, is a big international football competition for clubs in South America. It's organized every year by CONMEBOL, which is the main football group for South America. This tournament started in 2002.

The Copa Sudamericana is the second most important club competition in South American football. It's like a championship for teams that didn't qualify for the top tournament, the Copa Libertadores. The team that wins the Copa Sudamericana gets to play in the Recopa Sudamericana, which is a supercup against another champion. They also get a spot in the next Copa Libertadores and play a special friendly match called the UEFA–CONMEBOL Club Challenge against the winners of the UEFA Europa League from Europe.

The current champion is Racing from Argentina. They won the 2024 Copa Sudamericana final by beating Cruzeiro from Brazil. Clubs from Argentina have won the most titles, with ten victories. Five clubs have won the tournament twice: Boca Juniors, Independiente, Athletico Paranaense, Independiente del Valle, and LDU Quito. Boca Juniors is the only team to win two years in a row, in 2004 and 2005.

What is the History of the Copa Sudamericana?
How Does the Tournament Work?
What is the Copa Sudamericana Trophy?
What Does "The Other Half of Glory" Mean?
Who Sponsors the Copa Sudamericana?
What is the Official Match Ball?
How Much Prize Money Do Teams Win?
How Can You Watch the Copa Sudamericana?
Who Has Won the Copa Sudamericana?
Images for kids
See also

What is the History of the Copa Sudamericana?

Boca Juniors, Independiente, Athletico Paranaense, Independiente del Valle, and LDU Quito are currently the most successful clubs with two titles each

Before the Copa Sudamericana, there were other football tournaments in South America. In 1992, the Copa CONMEBOL was created for clubs that didn't play in the biggest tournaments. This cup ended in 1999.

Then, the Copa Merconorte and Copa Mercosur started in 1998. These tournaments also ended in 2001. The Copa Sudamericana began in 2002 to replace these older competitions. It started as a knockout tournament, meaning teams were eliminated if they lost. The first winner was San Lorenzo.

How Does the Tournament Work?

The Copa Sudamericana is a knockout tournament, which means teams play matches and the loser is out. The number of teams and rounds has changed over the years.

Until 2016, 47 teams played. Teams from Argentina and Brazil would join later in the tournament. Starting in 2017, the tournament got bigger, with more teams. It also began to run for most of the year, from February to December.

A big change happened in 2021 when a group stage was added. This means teams first play several matches in groups, and then the best teams move on to the knockout rounds. Also, some teams that get eliminated from the Copa Libertadores (the top South American club competition) can join the Copa Sudamericana later in the tournament. This makes the competition even more exciting!

What is the Copa Sudamericana Trophy?

The trophy given to the winner of the tournament is also called the Copa Sudamericana. Sometimes people just call it la Sudamericana. It's a special prize for the champions.

What Does "The Other Half of Glory" Mean?

La Otra Mitad de La Gloria is a Spanish phrase that means "The other half of glory." It's a popular saying used to describe winning the Copa Sudamericana. It shows how important and respected this tournament has become among football fans and teams. For example, when Cienciano won in 2004, it was a huge celebration in Peru!

Who Sponsors the Copa Sudamericana?

Big companies help sponsor the Copa Sudamericana, just like other major sports events. These sponsors help fund the tournament. The first main sponsor was Nissan Motors, starting in 2003.

As of 2024, some of the official sponsors include:

Amstel Brewery
Coca-Cola
Entain (which includes Bwin and Sportingbet)
EA Sports
Mercado Libre
Midea Group
MG Motor
Ueno Bank

There are also official partners like DHL and Puma.

What is the Official Match Ball?

Since 2024, the German company Puma makes the official match ball for the Copa Sudamericana, as well as for other CONMEBOL competitions. The official match ball for the 2024 tournament was called the Puma Cumbre.

How Much Prize Money Do Teams Win?

Winning the Copa Sudamericana can bring a lot of prize money to the clubs. For the 2023 Copa Sudamericana, teams received money for playing matches and even more for winning. For example, clubs that reached the group stage got US$900,000, plus US$100,000 for each match they won in that stage.

The further a team goes in the tournament, the more money they earn. The team that finishes second (the runner-up) receives US$2,000,000, and the champions get a big prize of US$5,000,000! This money comes from TV rights and advertising.

How Can You Watch the Copa Sudamericana?

Since 2019, the Copa Sudamericana has had separate TV deals from the Copa Libertadores. In Latin America (outside Brazil), you can watch it on DSports. In Brazil, it's broadcast on channels like SBT, ESPN, and Paramount. You can also find highlights on OneFootball.

Who Has Won the Copa Sudamericana?

List of Finals

From 2005 to 2008, clubs from North and Central America (CONCACAF) were invited to play.
Since 2019, the final is played as a single match, not two legs.

Keys

Finals won on away goals
Match went to extra time
Defined on penalty shoot-out in the second leg

Year	Winners	1st. leg	2nd. leg	Agg.	Runners-up	Venue (1st leg)	City (1st leg)	Venue (2nd leg)	City (2nd leg)
2002	San Lorenzo	4–0	0–0	4–0	Atlético Nacional	Estadio Atanasio Girardot	Medellín	Estadio Pedro Bidegain	Buenos Aires
2003	Cienciano	3–3	1–0	4–3	River Plate	Estadio Antonio V. Liberti	Buenos Aires	Estadio de la UNSA	Arequipa
2004	Boca Juniors	0–1	2–0	2–1	Bolívar	Estadio Hernando Siles	La Paz	La Bombonera	Buenos Aires
2005	Boca Juniors	1–1	1–1	4–3 (p)	Pumas UNAM	Estadio Olímpico Universitario	Mexico City	La Bombonera	Buenos Aires
2006	Pachuca	1–1	2–1	3–2	Colo-Colo	Estadio Hidalgo	Pachuca	Estadio Nacional	Santiago
2007	Arsenal	3–2	1–2	4–4	América	Estadio Azteca	Mexico City	El Cilindro	Avellaneda
2008	Internacional	1–0	1–1	2–1	Estudiantes	Estadio Ciudad de La Plata	La Plata	Estádio Beira-Rio	Porto Alegre
2009	LDU Quito	5–1	0–3	5–4	Fluminense	Estadio Casa Blanca	Quito	Maracanã	Rio de Janeiro
2010	Independiente	0–2	3–1	5–3 (p)	Goiás	Estádio Serra Dourada	Goiânia	Estadio Libertadores de América	Avellaneda
2011	Universidad de Chile	1–0	3–0	4–0	LDU Quito	Estadio Casa Blanca	Quito	Estadio Nacional	Santiago
2012	São Paulo	0–0	2–0	2–0	Tigre	La Bombonera	Buenos Aires	Estádio do Morumbi	São Paulo
2013	Lanús	1–1	2–0	3–1	Ponte Preta	Estádio do Pacaembu	São Paulo	Estadio Ciudad de Lanús	Lanús
2014	River Plate	1–1	2–0	3–1	Atlético Nacional	Estadio Atanasio Girardot	Medellín	Estadio Antonio V. Liberti	Buenos Aires
2015	Santa Fe	0–0	0–0	3–1 (p)	Huracán	Estadio Tomás Adolfo Ducó	Buenos Aires	Estadio El Campín	Bogotá
2016	Chapecoense				Atlético Nacional	Estadio Atanasio Girardot	Medellín	Estádio Couto Pereira	Curitiba
2017	Independiente	2–1	1–1	3–2	Flamengo	Estadio Libertadores de América	Avellaneda	Maracanã	Rio de Janeiro
2018	Athletico Paranaense	1–1	1–1	4–3 (p)	Junior	Estadio Metropolitano	Barranquilla	Arena da Baixada	Curitiba
2019	Independiente del Valle	3–1			Colón	Estadio General Pablo Rojas	Asunción	-
2020	Defensa y Justicia	3–0			Lanús	Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes	Córdoba	-
2021	Athletico Paranaense	1–0			Red Bull Bragantino	Estadio Centenario	Montevideo	-
2022	Independiente del Valle	2–0			São Paulo	Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes	Córdoba	-
2023	LDU Quito	1–1 4–3 (p)			Fortaleza	Estadio Domingo Burgueño	Maldonado	-
2024	Racing	3–1			Cruzeiro	Estadio General Pablo Rojas	Asunción	-

Notes

Claudio Morel Rodríguez is the only player who has won the Copa Sudamericana three times.

Performance by Club

Performance in the Copa Sudamericana by club
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

Performance by Nation

Performances in finals by nation
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

Images for kids

Eduardo Vargas.jpg

Eduardo Vargas scored a record 11 goals in a season during the 2011 tournament, a record that still stands today. Vargas is also the overall tournament top scorer.
Claudio Morel Rodríguez has won a record three Copa Sudamericana medals.