 | |
| Organizing body | CONMEBOL |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1960 |
| Region | South America |
| Number of teams | 47 (from 10 associations) |
| Qualifier for | |
| Related competitions | Copa Sudamericana (2nd tier) |
| Current champion(s) |  Fluminense (1st title) |
| Most successful club(s) |  Independiente(7 titles) |
| Website | conmebollibertadores.com |
 2024 Copa Libertadores | |
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (Portuguese: Copa/Taça Libertadores da América), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournament is named after the Libertadores (Spanish and Portuguese for liberators), the leaders of the Latin American wars of independence,[1] so a literal translation of its former name into English is "Liberators of the Americas Cup".
The competition has had several formats over its lifetime. Initially, only the champions of the South American leagues participated. In 1966, the runners-up of the South American leagues began to join. In 1998, Mexican teams were invited to compete and contested regularly from 2000 until 2016. In 2000 the tournament was expanded from 20 to 32 teams. Today at least four clubs per country compete in the tournament, with Argentina and Brazil having the most representatives (six and seven clubs, respectively). A group stage has always been used but the number of teams per group has varied.[1][2]
In the present format, the tournament consists of eight stages, with the first stage taking place in late January. The four surviving teams from the first three stages join 28 teams in the group stage, which consists of eight groups of four teams each. The eight group winners and eight runners-up enter the knockout stages, which end with the final in November. The winner of the Copa Libertadores becomes eligible to play in the FIFA Club World Cup, FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the Recopa Sudamericana.[3]
Independiente of Argentina is the most successful club in the cup's history, having won the tournament seven times. Argentine clubs have accumulated the most victories with 25 wins, while Brazil has the largest number of winning teams, with 11 clubs having won the title. The cup has been won by 26 clubs, 15 of them have done it more than once, and seven clubs have won two years in a row.