The 2026 Copa Sudamericana final stages are played from 21 July to 21 November 2026. A total of 24 teams compete in the final stages to decide the champions of the 2026 Copa Sudamericana, with the final to be played at Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Qualified teams The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the Copa Sudamericana group stage as well as the third-placed teams of each of the eight groups in the Copa Libertadores group stage advanced to the final stages. The eight Copa Sudamericana group runners-up faced the eight Copa Libertadores group third-placed teams in the knockout round play-offs, whilst the eight Copa Sudamericana group winners directly advanced to the round of 16.

Copa Sudamericana group stage winners and runners-up GroupWinnersRunners-upA Macará TigreB Atlético Mineiro CiencianoC São Paulo O'HigginsD Recoleta SantosE Botafogo CaracasF Montevideo City Torque GrêmioG Olimpia Vasco da GamaH River Plate Red Bull Bragantino

Copa Libertadores group stage third-placed teams GroupThird-placed teamsA Independiente MedellínB NacionalC BolívarD Boca JuniorsE Santa FeF Sporting CristalG LanúsH Universidad Central

Seeding

For the final stages, the teams are seeded according to their results in the group stage, with the Copa Sudamericana group winners seeded 1–8, the Copa Sudamericana group runners-up seeded 9–16, and the Copa Libertadores group third-placed teams seeded 17–24. For the round of 16 draw, the seeds 1–8 made up Pot 1, and the eight knockout round play-offs winners (seeds 9–24) made up Pot 2, keeping their seed number. Teams from the same association may play each other from the knockout round play-offs onwards.

Format

Starting from the knockout round play-offs, the teams play a single-elimination tournament with the following rules: In the knockout round play-offs, round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg (Regulations Article 2.2.3). If tied on aggregate, extra time will not be played, and a penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 2.4.4). The final is played as a single match at a venue pre-selected by CONMEBOL, with the higher-seeded team designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes (Regulations Article 2.2.6). If tied after regulation, 30 minutes of extra time will be played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 2.4.5).

Draw

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 29 May 2026, 12:00 PYT (UTC−3) at the CONMEBOL headquarters in Luque, Paraguay. For the round of 16, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (A–H) between a Copa Sudamericana group winner (Pot 1) and a knockout round play-offs winner (Pot 2), with the group winners hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association or the same group could be drawn into the same tie (Regulations Articles 2.2.3.2).

Bracket The bracket starting from the round of 16 was determined as follows:

RoundMatchupsKnockout round play-offs(Group runners-up host second leg, matchups pre-determined)

Play-offs Match A: Seed 9 vs. Seed 24 Play-offs Match B: Seed 10 vs. Seed 23 Play-offs Match C: Seed 11 vs. Seed 22 Play-offs Match D: Seed 12 vs. Seed 21

Play-offs Match E: Seed 13 vs. Seed 20 Play-offs Match F: Seed 14 vs. Seed 19 Play-offs Match G: Seed 15 vs. Seed 18 Play-offs Match H: Seed 16 vs. Seed 17Round of 16(Group winners host second leg, matchups decided by draw)

Match A Match B Match C Match D

Match E Match F Match G Match HQuarter-finals(Higher-seeded team host second leg)

Match S1: Winner A vs. Winner H Match S2: Winner B vs. Winner G

Match S3: Winner C vs. Winner F Match S4: Winner D vs. Winner ESemi-finals(Higher-seeded team host second leg)

Match F1: Winner S1 vs. Winner S4

Match F2: Winner S2 vs. Winner S3Finals(Higher-seeded team designated as "home" team) Winner F1 vs. Winner F2

The bracket was decided based on the round of 16 draw, which was held on 29 May 2026.

Knockout round play-offs Summary The first legs were played on 21–23 July, and the second legs were played on 28–30 July 2026.

Matches

Bolívar won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the round of 16.

Red Bull Bragantino won 1–0 on aggregate and advanced to the round of 16.

Vasco da Gama won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the round of 16.

Tied 1–1 on aggregate, Boca Juniors won on penalties and advanced to the round of 16.

Tigre won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the round of 16.

Santa Fe won 5–0 on aggregate and advanced to the round of 16.

Cienciano won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the round of 16.

Santos won 8–3 on aggregate and advanced to the round of 16.

Round of 16 Summary The first legs were played on 11–13 and 19 August, and the second legs were played on 18–20 and 26 August 2026.

Matches

Boca Juniors won 7–1 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S1).

Atlético Mineiro won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S2).

Cienciano won 6–2 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S3).

Vasco da Gama won 4–1 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S4).

Tied 1–1 on aggregate, Santa Fe won on penalties and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S4).

Montevideo City Torque won 3–1 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S3).

Santos won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S2).

São Paulo won 4–2 on aggregate and advanced to the quarter-finals (Match S1).

Quarter-finals Summary The first legs were played on 8–10 September, and the second legs were played on 15–17 September 2026.

Matches

Boca Juniors won 2–1 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals (Match F1).

Tied 4–4 on aggregate, Atlético Mineiro won on penalties and advanced to the semi-finals (Match F2).

Montevideo City Torque won 3–2 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals (Match F2).

Vasco da Gama won 2–0 on aggregate and advanced to the semi-finals (Match F1).

Semi-finals Summary The first legs will be played on 13 and 14 October, and the second legs will be played on 20 and 21 October 2026.

Matches

Winner advances to the final.

Winner advances to the final.

Final The final will be played on 21 November 2026 at Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Notes

References

External links CONMEBOL Sudamericana CONMEBOL.com