The 2024 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores is the 65th edition of the CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the Copa Libertadores), South America's premier club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The competition began on 6 February and is scheduled to end on 30 November 2024, with the final to be played in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[1][2]
Location of teams of the 2024 Copa Libertadores. Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H; White: Play-off rounds.
The draw for the qualifying stages was held on 19 December 2023, 12:00 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay.[16][17]
Teams were seeded by their CONMEBOL Clubs ranking as of 18 December 2023 (shown in parentheses),[18] taking into account the following three factors:[19]
Performance in the last 10 years, taking into account Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana results in the period 2014–2023.
Historical coefficient, taking into account Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana results in the period 1960–2013 and 2002–2013 respectively.
Local tournament champion, with bonus points awarded to domestic league champions of the last 10 years.
For the first stage, the six teams were drawn into three ties (E1–E3), with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg.[20]
† The identity of the team Bolivia 4 was not known at the time the pots were announced and it was seeded in Pot 2.
For the second stage, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (C1–C8), with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie, excluding the three winners of the first stage, which were seeded in Pot 2 and whose identity was not known at the time of the draw, and could be drawn into the same tie with another team from the same association.[20]
For the third stage, the eight winners of the second stage were allocated without any draw into the following four ties (G1–G4), with the team in each tie with the higher CONMEBOL ranking hosting the second leg.[20]
Second stage winner C1 vs. Second stage winner C8
Second stage winner C2 vs. Second stage winner C7
Second stage winner C3 vs. Second stage winner C6
Second stage winner C4 vs. Second stage winner C5
For the group stage, the 32 teams were drawn into eight groups (Groups A–H) of four containing a team from each of the four pots. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group, excluding the four winners of the third stage, which were allocated to Pot 4 and could be drawn into the same group with another team from the same association.
The draw for the round of 16 was held on 3 June 2024, 12:00 PYT (UTC−4) in Asunción, Paraguay.[21][22] For the round of 16, the 16 teams were drawn into eight ties (A–H) between a group winner (Pot 1) and a group runner-up (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 Article 2.2.3.2).[3]
In the qualifying stages, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, extra time would not be played, and a penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 2.4.3).[3]
The qualifying stages are structured as follows:
First stage (6 teams): The three winners of the first stage advance to the second stage to join the 13 teams which are given byes to the second stage.
Second stage (16 teams): The eight winners of the second stage advance to the third stage.
Third stage (8 teams): The four winners of the third stage advance to the group stage to join the 28 direct entrants. The four teams eliminated in the third stage enter the Copa Sudamericana group stage.
In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams were ranked according to the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Away goals scored; 5. CONMEBOL ranking (Regulations Article 2.4.2).[3][23]
In the 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 2.2.3.2). If tied on aggregate, extra time will not be played, and a penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winners (Regulations Article 2.4.3).
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 2.2.3.5). 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 2.4.4).
Qualified teams
The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage advance to the round of 16.
Starting from the round of 16, the teams are seeded according to their results in the group stage, with the group winners (Pot 1) seeded 1–8, and the group runners-up (Pot 2) seeded 9–16.