Copa CONMEBOL

The Copa CONMEBOL (English: CONMEBOL Cup) was an annual football cup competition organized by CONMEBOL between 1992 and 1999 for South American football clubs.^[1] During its time of existence, it was a very prestigious South American club football contest, similar to the UEFA Cup. Clubs qualified for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions. Teams that were not able to qualify for the Copa Libertadores would play in this tournament. The tournament was played as a knockout cup. The tournament ended in 1999, following the expansion of the Copa Libertadores to 32 teams.

Copa CONMEBOL

The trophy awarded to champions
Organizing body	CONMEBOL
Founded	1992
Abolished	1999; 25 years ago (1999)
Region	South America
Number of teams	16
Related competitions	Copa Mercosur Copa Merconorte
Most successful club(s)	Atlético Mineiro (2 titles)

The Copa Mercosur and Copa Merconorte -which both started in 1998- replaced the Copa CONMEBOL, and the merger of those 3 cups would later transformed in the current Copa Sudamericana.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]}

The last champion of the competition was Talleres, while Atlético Mineiro is the most successful club in the cup history, having won the tournament two times. The cup was won by seven different clubs but it was never won consecutively.^[9][10]

Format

Qualification

Each national association was assigned a number of entries determined by CONMEBOL which changed slightly from one edition to another. The best teams from the previous season that did not qualify for the Copa Libertadores through their league qualified for the Copa CONMEBOL. The tournament itself was played in two-legged knockout stages. The champion of the Copa CONMEBOL disputed the Recopa Sudamericana, the Copa de Oro and the Copa Master de CONMEBOL, albeit irregularly.

Tournament

The tournament started in the first stage in which 16 clubs were paired in a series of two-legged knockout ties in the round of 16, the first of four stages that worked on a single elimination phase knockout system that culminated in the finals. During each stage of the tournament, ties were decided on points, followed by goal difference, away goals, then a penalty shootout after full-time of the second leg, if necessary.

List of champions

Finals

Keys

• aet: after extra time
• p: defined on penalty shoot-out
•   Match decided by a penalty shootout after extra time
•   Match playoff after the series ended tied on aggregate
•   Defined on penalty shoot-out in the second leg

Year	Winners	1st. leg	2nd. leg	Playoff/ Agg.	Runners-up	Venue (1st leg)	City (1st leg)	Venue (2nd leg)	City (2nd leg)	Ref.
1992	Atlético Mineiro	2–0	0–1	–	Olimpia	Mineirão	Belo Horizonte	Defensores del Chaco	Asunción	[11]
1993	Botafogo	1–1	2–2	3–1 (p)	Peñarol	Centenario	Montevideo	Maracanã	Rio de Janeiro	[12]
1994	São Paulo	6–1	0–3	–	Peñarol	Morumbi	São Paulo	Centenario	Montevideo	[13]
1995	Rosario Central	0–4	4–0	4–3 (p)	Atlético Mineiro	Mineirão	Belo Horizonte	Gigante de Arroyito	Rosario	[14]
1996	Lanús	2–0	0–1	–	Santa Fe	La Fortaleza	Lanús	El Campín	Bogotá	[15][16][17]
1997	Atlético Mineiro	4–1	1–1	–	Lanús	La Fortaleza	Lanús	Mineirão	Belo Horizonte	[11]
1998	Santos	1–0	0–0	–	Rosario Central	Vila Belmiro	Santos	Gigante de Arroyito	Rosario	[18]
1999	Talleres (C)	2–4	3–0	–	CSA	Rei Pelé	Maceió	Olímpico	Córdoba	[19][20][21]

Performances by club

Performance in the Copa CONMEBOL by club

Club	Titles	Runners-up	Seasons won	Seasons runner-up
Atlético Mineiro	2	1	1992, 1997	1995
Rosario Central	1	1	1995	1998
Lanús	1	1	1996	1997
Botafogo	1	0	1993	—
São Paulo	1	0	1994	—
Santos	1	0	1998	—
Talleres	1	0	1999	—
Peñarol	0	2	—	1993, 1994
Olimpia	0	1	—	1992
Santa Fe	0	1	—	1996
CSA	0	1	—	1999

Top scorers

Year	Player (team)	Goals
1992	Aílton Delfino (Atlético Mineiro)	6
1993	Sinval (Botafogo)	8
1994	Juninho (São Paulo) Martín Rodríguez Alba (San Lorenzo)	5
1995	Horacio Carbonari (Rosario Central) Rubén da Silva (Rosario Central) Álex Escobar (América de Cali)	4
1996	Oscar Mena (Lanús)	5
1997	Valdir (Atlético Mineiro)	7
1998	Carlos María Morales (LDU Quito) Viola (Santos)	4
1999	Marcelo Araxá (São Raimundo-AM) Missinho (CSA)	4

See also

• Copa Sudamericana
• Copa Mercosur
• Copa Merconorte
• Copa Interamericana
• Copa Libertadores
• Copa Master de CONMEBOL

References

1. RSSSF SOUTH AMERICAN COMPETITIONS Archived 2010-02-01 at the Wayback Machine- RSSSF Retrieved January 9, 2014.
2. Copa Conmebol at the official page of Conmebol.com Archived 2013-07-18 at the Wayback Machine CONMEBOL Retrieved May 18, 2010.
3. CONMEBOL Cup / UEFA Cup Archived 2015-10-31 at the Wayback Machine RSSSF Retrieved May 18, 2010.
4. Información sobre la Copa Conmebol Archived 2009-01-24 at the Wayback Machine infofutbolonline.com Retrieved May 18, 2010
5. THE BEST CLUB OF SOUTH AMERICA RSSSF Archived 2010-02-01 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 9, 2014
6. Globo Esporte Archived 2009-05-12 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved December 10, 2007
7. Terra Brazil Archived 2013-09-30 at the Wayback Machine- Retrieved December 5, 2012
8. Santander Fútbol Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine- Retrieved July 16, 2012
9. Bola na Área Copa Conmebol Archived 2014-10-30 at the Wayback Machine- Retrieved 18, May 2010.
10. RSSSF SOUTH AMERICAN COMPETITIONS Archived 2010-02-01 at the Wayback Machine- Retrieved January 9, 2014
11. "Classic club: Atletico Mineiro". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
12. "Classic club: Botafogo". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
13. "Classic club: São Paulo". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
14. "Títulos del Club Atlético Rosario Central" (in Spanish). Rosario Central. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
15. "Lanús Campeón Copa Conmebol 1996" (in Spanish). Club Atlético Lanús. Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
16. La Conmebol 1996, aquel primer grito internacional Archived 2021-01-31 at the Wayback Machine, Clarín, 12 Dec 2013
17. A 19 AÑOS DEL PRIMER GRITO SAGRADO Archived 2022-09-08 at the Wayback Machine on Fortaleza Granate
18. "Classic club: Santos". Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
19. 1999. TALLERES CAMPEÓN DE LA COPA CONMEBOL Archived 2022-08-12 at the Wayback Machine on El Gráfico
20. "Emblemas Oficiales" (in Spanish). Talleres de Córdoba. Archived from the original on 12 January 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
21. Hace 21 años, Talleres se consagró campeón de la Copa Conmebol Archived 2022-09-08 at the Wayback Machine on Club Talleres, 8 Dec 2020

External links

• CONMEBOL Cup at RSSSF
• Información sobre la Copa Conmebol
• Globo Esporte