South American Championship of Champions

1948 South American Championship
Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones
Official poster
Tournament details
Dates11 February – 14 March 1948
Teams7 (from 7 confederations)
Venue(s)Santiago, Chile
Final positions
ChampionsBrazil Vasco da Gama (1st title)
Runners-upArgentina River Plate
Tournament statistics
Matches played21
Goals scored75 (3.57 per match)
Top scorer(s)Bolivia Roberto Capparelli
(7 goals)

The South American Championship of Champions (Spanish: Campeonato Sudamericano de Campeones,[1] Portuguese: Campeonato Sul-Americano de Campeões[2]) was a football competition played in Santiago, Chile in 1948 and the first continental-wide clubs football tournament in South America. Hosted and organized by Chilean club Colo Colo with the aid of then president of CONMEBOL Luis Valenzuela, it was played between February 11 and March 17. Brazil's Vasco da Gama won the competition after earning the most points in the round-robin tournament.

The tournament was the first tournament ever played to determine the South American club champion,[3] and thus is seen as the precursor to the Copa Libertadores[4] and is considered, along with the Copa Aldao (also named "Copa Río de La Plata"), as an important stepping stone towards its creation.[5][6]

  1. ^ Spanish pronunciation: [kampeoˈnato suðameɾiˈkano ðe kampeˈones]
  2. ^ Portuguese pronunciation: [kɐ̃pjõˈnatu ˈsuwɐmeɾiˈkɐnu dʒi kɐ̃piˈõjs]
  3. ^ The Portuguese language version of this article includes links to Brazilian and Argentine newspapers published in 1948 regarding the competition winner, CR Vasco da Gama, as South American club champion.
  4. ^ Vasco da Gama 1948: Navegante entre Libertadores by José Augusto Giuffra, 7 Jul 2008v
  5. ^ Carluccio, Jose (September 2, 2007). "¿Qué es la Copa Libertadores de América?" (in Spanish). Historia y Fútbol. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  6. ^ Título sul-americano completa 60 anos on GloboEsporte, 14 March 2008