Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores 2020: Schedule, Format, Qualifying Stages, Group Stages

The Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores 2020 will begin playing from this Tuesday, January 21. This will be the 61st edition of the most significant premier club football competition in South America organized by CONMEBOL, which was previously called the Copa Libertadores de América.

On 17 October 2019, CONMEBOL reported that the final will be played at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 21 November 2020. The champs of the 2020 Copa Libertadores will meet qualify for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, and procure the right to play against the victors of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana in the 2021 Recopa Sudamericana. They will likewise automatically qualify for the 2021 Copa Libertadores group stage.

In March 2018, the Liga MX President, Enrique Bonilla, said that Liga MX and Major League Soccer (MLS) were available to begin converses with have Mexican teams return and MLS teams from Canada and the United States to join on the off chance that they could concede to terms with the CONMEBOL authorities. Teams from Mexico have pulled back from the Copa Libertadores since 2017, however, they may return later on if the issue of schedule clashes can be solved.

On 21 May 2019, CONMEBOL reported that clubs must pass certain qualification prerequisites to contend in the 2020 Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana. One of the first prerequisites was that teams must be in the top division of their member association, yet this was evacuated after numerous associations expressed that they had not adopted the regulations of their qualifying tournaments for the 2020 Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.

47 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL member associations will qualify for the competition. Flamengo will be the defending champions.

Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores 2020: Schedule

Stage	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
First stage	17 December 2019	21–22 January 2020	28–29 January 2020
Second stage	17 December 2019	4–6 February 2020	11–13 February 2020
Third stage	17 December 2019	18–20 February 2020	25–27 February 2020
Group stage	17 December 2019	Matchday 1: 3–5 March 2020Matchday 2: 10–12 March 2020Matchday 3: 17–19 March 2020Matchday 4: 7–9 April 2020Matchday 5: 21–23 April 2020Matchday 6: 5–7 May 2020
Round of 16	13 May 2020	21–23 July 2020	28–30 July 2020
Quarter-finals	13 May 2020	18–20 August 2020	25–27 August 2020
Semi-finals	13 May 2020	22–24 September 2020	29 September – 1 October 2020
Final	13 May 2020	21 November 2020 at Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores 2020: Qualifying Stages

In the qualifying stages, each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on the total, the away goals rule will be utilized. On the off chance that still tied, additional time won’t be played, and the penalty shoot-out will be utilized to decide the victor.

The qualifying stages are organized as follows:

The first stage (6 teams): The three champs of the first stage advance to the second stage to join the 13 teams which are offered byes to the second stage.

The second stage (16 teams): The eight victors of the second stage advance to the third stage.

Third stage (8 teams): The four victors of the third stage advance to the group stage to join the 28 direct participants. The two best teams eliminated in the third stage enter the Copa Sudamericana second stage.

First stage

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
San José	E1	Guaraní	22 Jan	29 Jan
Carabobo	E2	Universitario	21 Jan	28 Jan
Progreso	E3	Barcelona	22 Jan	29 Jan

Second stage

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
E2	C1	Cerro Porteño	5 Feb	12 Feb
Cerro Largo	C2	Palestino	5 Feb	12 Feb
Independiente Medellín	C3	Deportivo Táchira	4 Feb	11 Feb
Macará	C4	Deportes Tolima	4 Feb	11 Feb
Universidad de Chile	C5	Internacional	4 Feb	11 Feb
The Strongest	C6	Atlético Tucumán	5 Feb	12 Feb
E1	C7	Corinthians	5 Feb	12 Feb
E3	C8	Sporting Cristal	6 Feb	13 Feb

Third stage

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
C1	G1[†]	C8	18–20 Feb	25–27 Feb
C2	G2[†]	C7	18–20 Feb	25–27 Feb
C3	G3[†]	C6	18–20 Feb	25–27 Feb
C4	G4[†]	C5	18–20 Feb	25–27 Feb

^† Order of legs to be decided, with the team in each tie with the higher CONMEBOL ranking hosting the second leg.

Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores 2020: Group Stages

In the group stage, each group is played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The teams are positioned by the following criteria: 1. Points (3 points for success, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss); 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Away goals scored; 5. CONMEBOL ranking.

The champs and runners-up of each group advance to the round of 16 of the final stages. The third-placed teams of each group enter the Copa Sudamericana second stage.

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Flamengo	Palmeiras	Peñarol	River Plate
Independiente del Valle	Bolívar	Colo-Colo	São Paulo
Junior	Tigre	Athletico Paranaense	LDU Quito
G1	G2	Jorge Wilstermann	Binacional
Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H
Grêmio	Nacional	Olimpia	Boca Juniors
Universidad Católica	Racing	Santos	Libertad
América de Cali	Alianza Lima	Delfín	Caracas
G4	Estudiantes de Mérida	Defensa y Justicia	G3

Group A

Flamengo	Independiente del Valle	Junior	G1
—	22 Apr	6 May	11 Mar
19 Mar	—	11 Mar	6 May
4 Mar	7 Apr	—	22 Apr
7 Apr	4 Mar	19 Mar	—

Group B

Palmeiras	Bolívar	Tigre	G2
—	22 Apr	6 May	11 Mar
19 Mar	—	11 Mar	6 May
4 Mar	7 Apr	—	22 Apr
7 Apr	4 Mar	19 Mar	—

Group C

Peñarol	Colo-Colo	Athletico Paranaense	Jorge Wilstermann
—	22 Apr	6 May	11 Mar
19 Mar	—	11 Mar	6 May
4 Mar	7 Apr	—	22 Apr
7 Apr	4 Mar	19 Mar	—

Group D

River Plate	São Paulo	LDU Quito	Binacional
—	22 Apr	6 May	11 Mar
19 Mar	—	11 Mar	6 May
4 Mar	7 Apr	—	22 Apr
7 Apr	4 Mar	19 Mar	—

Group E

Grêmio	Universidad Católica	América de Cali	G4
—	22 Apr	6 May	11 Mar
19 Mar	—	11 Mar	6 May
4 Mar	7 Apr	—	22 Apr
7 Apr	4 Mar	19 Mar	—

Group F

Nacional	Racing	Alianza Lima	Estudiantes de Mérida
—	22 Apr	6 May	11 Mar
19 Mar	—	11 Mar	6 May
4 Mar	7 Apr	—	22 Apr
7 Apr	4 Mar	19 Mar	—

Group G

Olimpia	Santos	Delfín	Defensa y Justicia
—	22 Apr	6 May	11 Mar
19 Mar	—	11 Mar	6 May
4 Mar	7 Apr	—	22 Apr
7 Apr	4 Mar	19 Mar	—

Group H

Boca Juniors	Libertad	Caracas	G3
—	22 Apr	6 May	11 Mar
19 Mar	—	11 Mar	6 May
4 Mar	7 Apr	—	22 Apr
7 Apr	4 Mar	19 Mar	—