The preliminary rounds of the 2026 Copa Libertadores were drawn this Thursday. At the ceremony, which took place at the headquarters of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) in Luque, Paraguay, all the clubs that will have to compete in these events learned about their rivals and the table they must pass to enter the group stage, for which four places are available and the draw for which will take place in March 2026.
Initially, six teams from “Phase 1” face each other with three return series and with the second match to be played at the stadium of the highest placed Conmebol ranking. Alianza Lima (Peru), Deportivo Táchira (Venezuela) and Universidad Católica (Ecuador) will play the second leg as locals, while Juventud (Uruguay), 2 de Mayo (Paraguay) and The Strongest (Bolivia) will complete their respective series as visitors.
The three winners advance to “Phase 2,” where they face 13 other teams, including Botafogo (Brazil) and Argentinos Juniors. The game mode will be the same as the previous round, with return series. The only restriction is that teams from the same country cannot compete against each other. So if the draw brings them together, one of them will be moved to another group.
Each cross is assigned a number from 1 to 8 to position the winners in the final phase. The “Phase 3” games have already been determined with the “Phase 2” draw, so there will be no draw. There will be eight heads-up games in total and the winners will play against each other to determine the four qualifying games for the group stage of the Copa Libertadores 2026.
The “preparatory phase” of the Copa Sudamericana 2026 was also drawn, in which there will be crossovers between local teams without the presence of Argentines and Brazilians. These will be single games where the home field is already assigned and the winners advance directly to the group stage.
*It is played by direct elimination in a single match between teams from the same association.
Bolivia
chili
Colombia
Ecuador
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
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