2019 Copa Sudamericana

The 2019 Copa CONMEBOL Sudamericana was the 18th edition of the CONMEBOL Sudamericana (also referred to as the Copa Sudamericana, or Portuguese: Copa Sul-Americana), South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.

Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle defeated Argentine club Colón by a 3–1 score in the final to win their first tournament title. As champions, Independiente del Valle earned the right to play against the winners of the 2019 Copa Libertadores in the 2020 Recopa Sudamericana. They also automatically qualified for the 2020 Copa Libertadores group stage. They would also have played the winners of the 2019 J.League Cup in the 2020 J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship, but it would not be held due to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics scheduled at the same time.

On 14 August 2018, CONMEBOL decided that starting from the 2019 edition, the final will be played as a single match, and although it was originally stated that the final would be played in Lima, Peru at the Estadio Nacional, on 9 May 2019 the confederation's Council decided to switch the venue to Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asunción, Paraguay. On 21 June 2019, APF announced that Estadio General Pablo Rojas in Asunción will host the 2019 final due to remodeling works at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco.

Athletico Paranaense were the defending champions, but did not play this edition as they qualified for the 2019 Copa Libertadores group stage as Copa Sudamericana champions and later advanced to the knockout stage.

The following 44 teams from the 10 CONMEBOL associations qualified for the tournament, entering the first stage:

• Argentina and Brazil: 6 berths each
• All other associations: 4 berths each

A further 10 teams eliminated from the 2019 Copa Libertadores were transferred to the Copa Sudamericana, entering the second stage.

The schedule of the competition was as follows. After changing the dates of the 2019 Copa América, the Brazilian Football Confederation released on 3 October 2018 its calendar for the following year, with new dates for the Copa Sudamericana.

The draw for the first stage was held on 17 December 2018, 20:30 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay. For the first stage, the teams were divided into two pots according to their geographical zones:

• Pot A (South Zone): 22 teams from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay
• Pot B (North Zone): 22 teams from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela

The 44 teams were drawn into 22 ties (E1–E22) between a team from Pot A and a team from Pot B, with the teams from Pot B hosting the second leg in odd-numbered ties, and the teams from Pot A hosting the second leg in even-numbered ties. This distribution ensured that teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same tie.

The draw for the second stage was held on 13 May 2019, 20:30 PYT (UTC−4), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay. For the second stage, the teams were allocated to two pots according to their previous results in this season:

• Pot 1: 10 teams transferred from the Copa Libertadores and six best winners of the first stage from the Copa Sudamericana
• Pot 2: 16 remaining winners of the first stage from the Copa Sudamericana

The 32 teams were drawn into 16 ties (O1–O16) between a team from Pot 1 and a team from Pot 2, with the teams from Pot 1 hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.

In the first stage, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was used. If still tied, extra time was not played, and a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 27).

The 22 winners of the first stage advanced to the second stage to join the 10 teams transferred from the Copa Libertadores (two best teams eliminated in the third stage of qualifying and eight third-placed teams in the group stage).

In the second stage, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was used. If still tied, extra time was not played, and a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 27).

The 16 winners of the second stage advanced to the round of 16 of the final stages.

Starting from the round of 16, the teams played a single-elimination tournament with the following rules:

• In the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals, each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the higher-seeded team hosting the second leg (Regulations Article 22.d). If tied on aggregate, the away goals rule was used. If still tied, extra time was not played, and a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 27).
• The final was 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 25). If tied after regulation, 30 minutes of extra time were played. If still tied after extra time, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner (Regulations Article 28).

Starting from the round of 16, the teams were seeded according to the second stage draw, with each team assigned a "seed" 1–16 corresponding to the tie they won (O1–O16) (Regulations Article 22.c).

The bracket was decided based on the second stage draw, which was held on 13 May 2019.

Source: CONMEBOL.com

Source: CONMEBOL.com

• 2019 Copa Libertadores

• 2020 Recopa Sudamericana

• CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2019, CONMEBOL.com